ff referred to as 'artificial feeding' on hospital tour

[nightowlmostly]

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?

Tiktok - But I thought that formula was a US term we'd imported, and that the term had grown from that background? Sorry if I got that wrong or was confusing by not mentioning the US .

It's the standard term used by health professionals, the ward sheet will say BF for Brest feeding and AF for formula as will hospital records etc. I have to say although it is the term used between staff I tend to say formula or bottle feeding when speaking to parents as apart from anything else it's just confusing. I doubt it was used as a deliberate ploy to make people breastfeed, more likely the midwife just forgot who she was talking to, health professionals do that - talk in medical speak and forget that normal people might not understand the terms they are using! I wouldn't read too much into it x

To be honest I'd never thought about the fact that it called 'formula' before this thread, and those of you who point out that it in itself is a loaded term meant to imply goodness and scientific merit are right. But what to call it instead? And also the fact that she probably just forgot who she was speaking to and used the medical terminology automatically. It's so easy to read too much into stuff I suppose!

STL - you're right that the term 'formula' comes from the US, and came from the US doctor's practice of prescribing a formula for each baby.

I don't think the use of 'artificial feeding' would be a slip up. There are some midwives who think it's right to call a spade a spade, including pissing mothers off :(

It is artificial feeding though. Artificial essentially means manufactured, which formula milk is.
It is the opposite of an emotive or judgmental term: it is a neutral, technical term, in the same way that sternum is the technical term for breastbone...

not in an age when 'free from artificial colourings and preservatives' is used to sell products, particularly mothers. it isn't neutral, that's a fiction, tbh. i'm so surprised that anyone would try to suggest that.

Agree, Aitch - it is definitely loaded, and it does not matter if it is technically correct or not.

I think that it is normal terminology, but maybe a little old fashioned? My midwife called to artificial feeding too. It didnt make me feel any more or less guilty about the concept than the term 'formula feeding'.