Breastfeeding is not best - Dr Karleen Gribble

[fabsmum]

Love this video

Let people decide for themselves

Nancy,

One of the key points made in the initial video was that ff manufacturers are happy to endorse the view that breast is best because it idealises what is a normal method of feeding and thus normalises formula feeding. Your acknowledgement of the statement 'breast if best' as a positive (fair) positioning of the ff manufacturers serves to highlight how this process works. Therefore, while people are often not too stupid to make up their own mind, the very power of marketing is revealed - after all, you have been actively examining this issue yet still accept their approach.

Wow!

This is a hot forum here.

Just wanted to share my story. When pregnant, I'd never have thought about a situation like this. This happened last night.

My little one went to sleep and appeared fine. She woke in the night gasping. She was blue round the mouth, struggled to breath and sounded terrible. I felt terrified. I sat her up and offered her the breast. That's all I had and all that I felt I could do right there and then, daddy got onto the Doctor.

She settled and nursed, comforted by ME, her mam! I saw her look at me and smile, I felt so there for her. Nursing really did comfort her and calmed her down. She continued to wheeze for quite a while. The Doctor diagnosed croup, seemed reassured and gave us some advice. I stayed awake all night watching her.

All she has done all day is nurse from me. She must know that it will be helping her to get better.

Walnutshell - as things stand today, if i read the side of a tin of formula or looked at their website I would come away with the very clear view that formula is second best and breast feeding is superior. I knew that anyway, but if i didn't i think the message comes over loud and clear. This takes me back to my earlier point that I believe the law goes far enough and a complete ban on formula is unreasonable.

Nancy, these links will help you understand the issue more, I think:

This shows how a great majority of women report having seen an ad for formula. You are not typical. Misunderstandings about the difference between formula and follow on are very common.

This shows a third of mothers thought formula is as good or nearly as good as breastmilk.

No one wants to ban formula, Nancy.

Stop saying this!

All that's needed is ethical marketing, to protect the health of all babies, including the ones who are formula fed.

The point is not to emphasis the superiority of the breastmilk, but the inferiority and indeed potential damage of formula. It's a subtle language difference but has a real impact.

(Also, the point is not to make ff mothers feel guilty but that is almost a separate issue)

My last post addressed to Nancy of course

Yes, ethical marketing in great preference to consumers having to undertake copious amount of research for every claim. It's this understandable weariness on the part of the consumer that clever (and sometimes not so clever) marketing relies upon.

Nancy, the whole whole point of the video is that the manufacturers are more than happy to print breast is best, because in doing so there is the subtext that formula is "good enough".
All this talk of breastmilk being superior, of breast being best, or supermilk is that it talks it out of being the norm. Which is the position that the formula producers are more than happy for their product to fill.

I think the change in the law last year has made it as fair as it can possibly be.

i'm talking about a ban on advertising - which somebody said should be implemented and i think should not.

Aitch - that's exactly my point, as soon as there is a debate on bf/ff and formula companies someone comes on saying how the bf mafia want to ban formula and how it's not poison . I don't think many MNers want to ban formula - the odd one or two who have made poison analogies have been set straight very quickly by the majority.

Also we get a load of people saying advertising doesn't work. Maybe they should tell marketing people of all the major companies, I'm sure they'd love to stop wasting all that money.

Nancy - "Formula companies are now no longer allowed to claim that their product is 'close to breastmilk'"
I think Aptamil's slogan is "CLoser than ever to breastmilk"
Just had a quick look on their site to find that (I couldn't, it's late!) and pretty much the first line on their site is "A collection of independent articles commissioned by us covering subjects from infant nutrition to breastfeeding"
SO breastfeeding is something separate from infant nutrition, is it?

why on earth would anyone want to support unethical marketing unless they stood to gain in profit? surely the world can function better without this.

offtobuttonmoon, that sounds really scary! Hope she is getting better.

What's unethical about it?

StealthPolarBear - the change in the law last March outlawed the use of misleading phrased including 'close/closer to breast milk'

This is part of why many people find ff marketing unethical:
"Its aggressive marketing of formula included idealizing claims about the benefits of formula and providing free supplies to encourage babies to be bottle fed in hospital. This interrupts a mothers lactation, and when she leaves hospital the formula is no longer free. Breastfeeding provides protection against short and long-term illness and in settings without access to safe water or good health care it saves lives. " - see babymilkaction.org

Nancy, do you find 'close/closer to breast milk' unethical? Because, as you cite, it was clearly found to be and therefore banned. Are you really convinced that this put an end to unethical marketing? Of course not.

The Aptamil I have in my cupboard claims "the closest to breastmilk" It was bought last October

ooh does that mean I can complain?

Although I did buy it from our local co-op, wouldn't be surprised if they re-stock every year or so

Maybe that was the case in the past but it isn't now.
do women in this country get free formula samples in hospital? I don't know.

I actually don't fine 'closer to breast milk' unethical because chances are it's probably true. But it's banned now and I don't have a problem with that either.

StealthPolarBear - you must have an old tin. the new ruling applies to anything that came off the manufacturing line after April 2007

i use Aptamil and it says "inspired by breastmilk". Bought the tub last week.

"INspired by breastmilk"

Bit fatuous really - I mean what else would it be "inspired" by, elephant tears?

true I be a bit worried if it was inspired by vodka!

But it wasn't "inspired by breastmilk" was it? ...shouldn't it read "inspired by a desire to get rid of waste from the dairy industry & make huge profits"