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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

ff referred to as 'artificial feeding' on hospital tour

34 replies

nightowlmostly · 17/03/2012 23:23

Hi, I am expecting my first in about 4 weeks, so haven't been looking in this topic much tbh. I was having a look just now though, and it reminded me that when we had our tour of the maternity unit today, they said they were pro breast feeding and so if you wanted to 'artificially feed' your baby you'd have to bring in your own formula.

Now, I am keen to breastfeed, and really agree with them being pro active in encouraging women to breastfeed. The thing that gets me is, what if you can't and need to feed your baby. Are they going to make you go out and buy formula before you can feed your child? And I find referring to formula feeding as 'artificially feeding' a bit emotive, as if they are using that language to make people feel guilty. I don't know if it was just one member of staff, but it seems an unnatural word to use so I suspect it may be policy, part of their pro breast campaign.

Again, this doesn't affect me directly, but I still felt it was a bit out of order, as if they were trying to guilt trip mums to be before they'd even had their babies. Is this common or was it a one off?

OP posts:
LoopyLoopsIsTentativelyBack · 17/03/2012 23:24

Uh oh, here we go...

ShowOfHands · 17/03/2012 23:26

It is artificial feeding and is a normal and accepted term.

But I do understand how loaded it sounds. See also geriatric pregnant women and failure to progress in labour.

And if you plan to bf and have problems they will provide emergency formula. But if you plan to ff you must bring your own.

Haziedoll · 17/03/2012 23:27

If you plan to bf but need to give formula whilst you are in hospital they will provide it for you. I think that is fair enough. If you know from the outset that you want to ff you should bring the milk with you.

HappyCamel · 17/03/2012 23:28

Well it isn't natural is it, so artificial is an accurate description. It's only emotive if you want it to be.

Some people go in to hospital with it in their bags but supermarkets and chemists all stock it so it isn't hard to get hold of if you want to. Very, very few people can't feed though, most choose to ff, either before their child is born or if they find feeding painful or difficult or just don't like the sensation.

AitchTwoOhOneTwo · 17/03/2012 23:29

nah, that's shite imo. not on.
although when i had an ectopic pregnancy and had to have it removed before it killed me, i remember breaking my heart over signing papers agreeing to a 'termination'. so yes, i am aware of 'correct' terminology but am always shocked at how insensitive they are.

WipsGlitter · 17/03/2012 23:30

A midwife used this term to me and I was really pissed off (at home, community midwife, feeling crap I'd given up so fast on the breastfeeding) and complained.

Now I'm just "meh", breast / formula whatever works.

usualsuspect · 17/03/2012 23:30

Are babies not patients as well though? , I think hospitals should provide food for them the same as the mothers .

AitchTwoOhOneTwo · 17/03/2012 23:31

"Very, very few people can't feed though."
now you see, that is bullshit, in a world with such crappy bfing support. loads of people try their hardest and can't do it, for a million reasons, very often a simple lack of help.

Nagoo · 17/03/2012 23:31

wow.

I've had Wine I can't respond without sounding like a dick....

Yes, you're right, people who have to/ choose to FF will possibly feel like shite, and I think that new mothers have enough to deal with without this as well.

however (dick alert) I think that FF is so engrained in our culture (BF rates are very low where I live) that the MW are doing everything they can to reverse that and get people to accept the notion that BF is the norm. I don't disagree with that aim.

cazboldy · 17/03/2012 23:31

agree with happycamel

RitaMorgan · 17/03/2012 23:31

Well, it is artificial compared to breastfeeding as a biological norm.

If formula is medically necessary it would be provided.

AitchTwoOhOneTwo · 17/03/2012 23:32

(although the hospital food on offer when i was last there i would class as 'artificial' fo' sho')

AitchTwoOhOneTwo · 17/03/2012 23:34

you are hardly going to persuade someone to make the positive decision to bf by framing the 'opposition' in such terms, though. the idea is nonsense. help people who sincerely want to bf to do so, forget about the rest until the numbers are up and bfing is visible once more.

MrsApplepants · 17/03/2012 23:34

It's technically correct, but sounds a bit confusing to me! (for some reason 'artifical feed' reminds me of plant food eg baby bio!) Why can't they just stick to terms like 'breast feed' and 'formula feed?'

LadyWidmerpool · 17/03/2012 23:41

Believe me there was no shortage of formula in hospital when I had my baby. I was in four nights and only one mother in the ward had no issues with BFing. Every other mother including me ended up giving formula, either switching entirely or topping up, and the hospital supplied it. I was given some to take home.

otterface · 17/03/2012 23:42

"Geriatric pregnancy" and "failure to progress" were both terms relevant to me and they both made me feel like crap. Having to see references to "termination" in relation to treatment for an ectopic pregnancy sounds just awful, Aitch.

Those are all terms that disregard the feelings of the mother entirely. "Artificial feeding" is awful in a different way because it isn't a matter of disregarding her feelings, but of manipulating her toward a particular course of action.

I breastfed my daughter, I believe in breastfeeding, and I believe in improvements to support and objective information on the benefits and challenges of breast feeding.

But it's a bit shit to use an emotive, loaded, judgement-implying term when what you actually are referring to is commonly known as formula.

AitchTwoOhOneTwo · 17/03/2012 23:46

exactly, otterface, it's a coarse manipulation.

Original poster
nightowlmostly · 17/03/2012 23:50

I wasn't aware that it is an accepted term for formula feeding, I was genuinely quite shocked to hear it described as such. I am pro breastfeeding as I said, I was just asking whether this is normal, and apparently it is!

I agree with the aim the hospital have, of encouraging breastfeeding, it just still seems like unnecessarily provocative language to use, that's all! As described by plenty of mothers on these boards, it's not something that comes easily to all, so to call formula feeding artificial just seems to be putting the boot in a bit.

OP posts:
LadyWidmerpool · 17/03/2012 23:50

You could argue that the term 'formula' has connotations which imply superiority to breastmilk. I'm sure the manufacturers didn't call it that by accident.

AitchTwoOhOneTwo · 17/03/2012 23:52

it is absolutely NOT an accepted term for formula when talking to patients, imo and ime. any more than myocardial infarction is when speaking to a person who's just had a heart attack. what you encountered tonight was base politicking.

AitchTwoOhOneTwo · 17/03/2012 23:54

i'd have thought it would have been initially a 'formula' that was thought superior to pap or cow's milk, as much as breastmilk. i know it's shocking to some people, but there have always been women who couldn't breast feed, you know, and they've always required a substitute.

SecondTimeLucky · 18/03/2012 15:00

I don't agree with what they said, but I do agree that there is perhaps a need for terminology other than 'formula'. Historically, formula was used to imply superiority to breast milk (not just pap or cow's milk). Each baby had their personal 'formula' prescribed by their doctor and regularly adjusted as they grew. I think it is this scientific undertone that people are trying to counteract in what is still predominately a formula feeding culture.

Can't for the life of me think what you would call it though, and I think using it in hospital is bang out of order.

nannyl · 18/03/2012 16:18

I am very pro-breastfeeding

my 6m old has never had cow milk...

think artificial is a bit of a wierd term actually... IMO artificial is a word to describe things that arnt natural.... like chemical sweeteners / colours etc etc

I would look at it like breast milk is human / breast milk, and personally i refer to formula as cow milk (made for cows but modified so as not to damage a human baby (hopefully).... there are of course risks and it can damage babies.... )

However formula IS still milk from milk, so not "artificial" in MY eyes. (though of course hospital can call it what they like..... and lets face it is IS inferior, especially for tiny newborns)

SauvignonBlanche · 18/03/2012 16:35

It's powdered cows milk which, whilst perfectly acceptable and safe for human babies, it's not 'natural' is it?
The visit to the labour ward was probably one of the last opportunities to let women see that BFing is perfectly natural (as some still see it as 'icky') and to give it a try.

tiktok · 18/03/2012 16:37

"Each baby had their personal 'formula' prescribed by their doctor and regularly adjusted as they grew. " Not true here - only ever true in the US.

I agree that 'artificial feeding' is loaded and it should not be used except as a technical/professional term. You can't say 'cow's milk' because while again technically correct, it's usually used colloquially to refer to milk you get from the milkman/supermarket.

A midwife speaking to parents about feeding should just talk about formula feeding. Hospitals which require people who want to ff to bring in their own stuff will not refuse it if a baby needs it or if the mother changes her mind.