"it is important that, in preparation for and during breastfeeding, you eat a healthy, balanced diet"

[harpsichordcarrier]

or so it says on the "important information" on some HCP stuff Cow and Gate sent me to give out to parents.
but that's VERY misleading isn't it? it might imply that if you haven't eaten a healthy diet during pregnancy, you shouldn't bf? that formula would be better alternative?
it just seems a weird thing to have on a formula notice.
I am thinking of complaining - what do you think?

(I am ignoring the incursion of another season of festive bloody names. Are we going to start doing Secretaries' Day next? Anyway, when I start namechanging it all goes wrong.)

Apologies for hyperbole. Someone on this thread implied that the healthy eating message was intended to discourage women from b/fing in case they were not healthy enough, and thus create more need for formula.

Well I'm sorry but I think that's a bit paranoid. Do you (I mean 'you' , the world in general, not 'you' individually Harpsi) believe that is what your doctor or midwife is implying when they encourage you to eat healthily whilst b/fing? It's important to eat healthily because you as the mother need to keep your strength up and ensure you, the mother, can cope with the rigours of new motherhood and, perhaps, breastfeeding. End of. It's not a global conspiracy to undermine mothers' confidence in their abilities.

In preparation for and during breastfeeding, it is important that everyone must be very nice to you and bring you lots of nice yummy things (including BUT NOT LIMITED TO organic champagne, &c) to eat and tell you how lovely you are and goodness me you have hardly put any weight on at all have you?
that should get the bloody milk flowing.

But I seriously don't think that in those first few weeks you should beat yourself up about what you're eating. It's a grey blur of horror. At least things go better with cake.

No. It's an attempt to make bf even more hard to achieve. If you have to have a healthy balanced diet to do bf, which is essentially impossible in the first weeks of a baby's life unless you have staff, then breastfeeding is obviously impossible. It implies that if you're not eating well, then your milk will be no good, and you should give formula instead.

Come on. If they think all mums should eat well, they should just say that, and not tie it in to bf. They don't actually say "but if you're giving formula, you can eat any old crap", but it is implied.

Oh yes, people should definitely tell you that you're looking slimmer by the day, aren't you, and oh how glowing you are.

but wordsmith, this is not from a doctor, or a health professional. it is from a formula company, on their promotional material. that's relevant surely? do you think the formula companies have the same aims as the HCPs?

Logically, a formula company is going to try and get you to use its product and increase its sales, so any message it puts out will almost certainly be with that aim.

I am not getting at formula users, btw (I used it myself with my older daughter). I am suspicious of Evil Big Businesses because I am an old lefty type.

They only say things about b/fing because they have to promote it as superior. Which of course it is. So I think it's a bit rich to criticise them for giving good advice, whatever their evil ulterior motives. But really, they can't win, can they? Why not ban the whole lot of them while we're at it.

it's not good advice, it's dodgy advice, and it has nothing whatsoever to do with promoting bf as superior.

I fail to see why it is dodgy advice. It's what doctors tell you, and midwives, and baby books, and every other relevant authority.

But because a formula company tells you, it must be dodgy.

What logic.

But Wordsmith, you have to look at the context of where that advice is being given; and it isn't good advice in any case, as far as breastfeeding itself is concerned. You can live on Fruit Shoots and salt and vinegar crisps and your milk would probably be fine.

er, no wordsmith, as I and other on this thread keep saying.
it is NOT all that important for breastfeeding, according to everything I have ever read or been taught about breastfeeding during my training. obviously we should ALL eat a balanced diet, but whether or not we do has no material affect on the quality of breastmilk.
and to prepare for bf .... I don't really understand what that even means. Women don't need to prepare for bf. it happens all by itself. to suggest otherwise is insidious and dangerous and undermines bf.

HC, you are right, I think this carries an undercurrent message of 'if you eat crap, your milk will be crap'. My god, my diet consisted of Ripples, Galaxys and maybe the odd fishfinger in those first few horrendous weeks.

ooh I quite fancy a Ripple now.

OMG. I hesitate to say this, but get a life.

And that's not related to the Ripple comment.

iam a young lefty type - tho a v sleep deprived, lazy, uninformed one on the whole - and oi agree its a bad thing and u should complain.

i also think wordsmith is rather missing the point. jeez, i thought I was naive

by all means tell me to get a life. I do care, surprisingly passionately, about breastfeeding rates and enabling as many women as wish to to breastfeed and to change the prevailing culture for the sake of women and their babies. (which has nothing to do with passing judgment on any individual woman or her choices/needs btw.) I don't make any apology for that, as it happens. someone has to be a sad bf geek and that might as well be me, I have nothing better to do.and I am in pretty good company

Nah, you're a sad breastfeeding nork.

I'm with Harpsi and MI. This is a formula company trying to get across the message that if you aren't eating a Gillian McKeith-approved diet, your breastmilk may not be up to scratch.

Wordsmith, do you not think that given the advertising ban, formula milk marketing people don't look at every possible way of influencing people to use their product? That line has been approved by the marketing department.

so I am
I may make a badge

The formula companies don't have to say anything about a suitable diet for women who are breastfeeding, so when they say something that is not only inaccurate and irrelevant, but also likely to make women think, 'Blimey, I eat mainly cake and takeaway pizzas...my milk must be crap' one does not have to be paranoid to wonder why. It is bleedin' obvious why they say it.

Look, I'm sorry, but it's also a line peddled by doctors and healthcare professionals. And of course I realise that they have a product to see. Jeez, I work in advertising myself, I know how it works. But keeping yourself healthy is not bad advice. If that makes me naive, then shoot me. Would you rather have health warnings on formula, like there are on fags? and if so, what would they say? "This product isn't as good as breastmilk"? It already says that. Or won't you be happy until it says something like "You're a pretty feeble minded person for buying this product, you can't possibly have a mind of your own, you are completely taken in by our rather clever copywriting."

If you really believe formula is that bad then campaign against it, but not because you are a 'lefty sort of perosn who beleives all business muct be bad' (I paraphrase.) Now that is wooly thinking. And I read the Guardian.

It's late, my typing is crap. Apologies for typos, hope you get what I'm saying. I'm off to bed now.