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Infant feeding

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Original poster

Did no-one else see Casualty? BBC managing to normalise FF again.

218 replies

evenhope · 04/05/2008 10:08

I've checked to see if anyone else started a thread about this but it seems no-one has.

Maggie's daughter was whining that she was having trouble feeding the baby and she was going to switch to bottles. Maggie said "breast is best".

Switch to the staff room and Tess is handing over a bottle trotting out the "happy mum happy baby" line.

Then in the pub the mum tells Toby she's "claimed them back" and is no longer feeding.

Why does the BBC persist in this anti-breastfeeding stance? What is the relevance of a BF storyline in Casualty anyway?!!

OP posts:
TinkerbellesMum · 08/05/2008 17:01

I didn't realise the baby was that old. You'd think by then she'd have settled into BF, that story line is even more odd that it wasn't a newborn.

It was completely bad form from the BBC and Casualty. Yes, women give up BF or don't even start but they didn't have to do it as a story line and they didn't have to show a senior nurse spouting such rubbish!

Did anyone see if it made PoV on Sunday?

tortoiseSHELL · 09/05/2008 08:12

I made a complaint to the BBC, this is their reply...

Many thanks for your e-mail regarding 'Casualty' on 3 May.

I understand that you were concerned by the portrayal of breastfeeding on the programme.

The primary function of all our dramas, regardless of subject matter or style, is to entertain and dramas set in hospitals shouldn't be seen in the same way as documentaries.

That said, we take research very seriously indeed and take advice at all stages of story development and filming from a panel of highly qualified and experienced emergency medicine practitioners. This is to try to ensure that we're able to represent the world of the NHS as best we can.

However, I do recognise your concerns on this occasion; it certainly wasn't our intention to give a misleading or unfair portrayal of breastfeeding and I'd like to assure you that your complaint has been registered on our audience log.

This is a daily report of audience feedback that's circulated to our programme makers and senior managers. It's also published on our intranet site, so it's available for all staff to view.

In addition to this, we regularly compile tailored audience feedback reports for specific programmes so they can have an overview of all contacts received about their series. If a report's compiled relating to 'Casualty' then your complaint will appear here.

All feedback we receive, whether positive or negative, is always appreciated; thanks again for taking the time to contact us with your concerns.

tortoiseSHELL · 09/05/2008 08:14

My feeling is that yes, Casualty is entertainment, but the advice given by Tess, who is supposed to be a highly competent A&E nurse gave misleading information, and as such a viewer could assume that this is accepted practice.

nappyaddict · 09/05/2008 08:46

i don't think saying happy mum, happy baby is misleading though. generally that is pretty much always the case.

BibiThree · 09/05/2008 08:56

I really don't think women are that impressionable to choose the feeding method for their babies based on what a fictional character on tv does. To suggest that the bbc's fictional storylines will influence the way people live their lives is just silly. These characters also have affairs willy nilly, have addictions to all sorts of things and many other things that people don't copy becuase tv is making it appear normal.

My choice was my choice, based on the information I had gathered and my personal circumstances.

tortoiseSHELL · 09/05/2008 09:40

nappyaddict, I think the 'happy mum, happy baby' bit was okish, but not followed by the words 'magic formula, works every time', as she hands over a bottle of formula milk...obviously she may not have been referring to the formula, but they could have had the intelligence to use a different word...

Bibi - I don't think someone would say to themselves 'Joanne on Casualty bottle fed, so must I', it's more to do with the nation's perception. And the UK is particularly bad with its Daily Mail style 'breast feeding is disgusting' attitudes. And I DO think the BBC (which we pay for through our licences) has a moral responsibility to give out correct info. I'll post my complaint letter below...

I would like to register disappointment that the BBC chose to feature Joanne giving up breastfeeding in the way that they did. The storyline showed a grizzly baby, followed by a lame 'breast is best' comment from Maggie, no suggestions to refer to a breastfeeding counsellor, no advice on what to do to help the breastfeeding. When Joanne took the baby into A&E, she was not helped to breast feed, and instead Tess gave a bottle of formula and said 'Happy baby, Happy mum - magic formula works every time.' Later Joanne is seen out with Toby - he questions whether she should be having a drink (which incidentally you can do while breastfeeding) and she replied she has 'given up' and 'reclaimed her breasts'.

I felt that to a nursing mother, this storyline would simply discourage breastfeeding, encourage the transfer to formula (whether the term 'magic formula' was referring to the milk or the 'happy baby', it implied that formula was a better solution). It also helped to perpetuate the attitude prevalent in the UK that breastfeeding is somehow un-natural and difficult, and that babies should be bottle fed.

Surely the BBC has a moral responsibility to help 'normalise' breast feeding in our society - it is very rare that a character in a high profile television programme is seen to breast feed, and there are never 'extras' breast feeding. I am very disappointed that the BBC seems to be promoting the benefits of formula feeding when the health benefits of breast feeding, and also the difficulties mothers face in breast feeding (both physical and social) are all well documented. It is time the BBC took their responsibility seriously and actively tried to normalise breast feeding, in the same way that they have tried to normalise different races and disabilities.

nappyaddict · 09/05/2008 09:48

i have now watched the episode and to me it really seemed like she was saying happy mum, happy baby is the magic formula. what other word could they have used? "magic formula" is a well used phrase and was the obvious choice of words imo. i can't think of an obvious word that could have been used to replace formula anyway.

TinkerbellesMum · 09/05/2008 10:19

You are right, the magic formula is "happy mum happy baby" but the way it was said was ambiguous and I fear it was deliberately so. It's possible that someone was writing about their (or their wife's) experiences and was slightly bitter.

tortoiseSHELL · 09/05/2008 12:53

They could have said 'happy mum, happy baby, it's the magic trick that works every time!' or 'happy mum, happy baby, works every time', or 'happy mum, happy baby, the magic solution that works every time.'

nappyaddict · 09/05/2008 13:15

hmmm i hadn't thought of any of those so maybe the writers didn't either? it's possible that it really wasn't meant to be ambiguous at all.

tortoiseSHELL · 09/05/2008 13:40

on the other hand, if you're a writer, that's what you're paid to do. They wouldn't make a similar 'ambiguous' comment about a disability or a black person.

VictorianSqualor · 09/05/2008 13:45

I have to say I'm pretty hot on formulas and things being used in TV programmes, I've writtne to complain to corrie and Eastenders about their storylines and about the formula in Tanyas kitchen, but I didn't think the 'magic formula' meant anything to do with the milk at all.
Although, as some people obviously did I assume others with ahve too so maybe that's the point?

tortoiseSHELL · 09/05/2008 14:48

To be honest,it wasn't the words that bothered me the most, it was the idea that a 'sensible' nurse like Tess wouldn't suggest ways to help with the feeding etc - the portrayal was basically - 'baby grizzles, mum gives formula, BINGO'.

nappyaddict · 09/05/2008 15:32

but we can't have everyone on tv breastfeeding and no one formula feeding. then how would the ffers feel? they would feel guilty for having to ff, for not enjoying breastfeeding, for not being able to continue for whatever reason or in some cases not even being able to start breastfeeding. imo there needs to be a mix of both and there is.

fabsmum · 09/05/2008 15:48

"then how would the ffers feel?"

Why on earth would seeing women bf on tv make ff mums feel 'guilty'? Seriously? Why? Can you explain the mechanism for that?

And do you think that's a good reason for not showing more women bf their babies on tv?

tiktok · 09/05/2008 16:12

nappy, there is not a 'mix' of both bf and ff on TV - there is research on this. Mostly, babies are shown ff on TV, and the accuracy of infant feeding story lines is almost always very poor.

Most medical dramas and soaps have it as a matter of pride to get the physiological details of stories correct.

I don't understand why the depiction of breastfeeding on TV should be limited in order to protect the feelings of ff mothers. On that basis, people should be careful of bf in public merely to prevent the chance that a ff mother might feel guilty Or childbirth, or parenthood itself, should not be depicted in case it makes people undergoing fertility treatment feel bad.

In fact, I know that stories and events on TV can make people feel upset if it touches on something they are sensitive about.

But this is something that faces us all at some time - a funeral when you've just been to one, a sick puppy when you've just taken yours to the vet, a serious illness when you've just been diagnosed....

It's life, get over it

nappyaddict · 09/05/2008 16:24

well recently both ee and corrie have used breastfeeding mothers in honey and violet. tanya ff.

nappyaddict · 09/05/2008 16:25

btw i don't think bf on tv should be limited but i also don't think ff should be either as long as their are cases of both going on then that's realistic of life.

OracleInaCoracle · 09/05/2008 16:27

yes nappy, and violet gave up bf-ing after 3d because she couldnt share the load with jamie, after a fab convo between lauren {i think} and sean about how gross bfing in public is. and given the amount of babies that are born in soapland, very few are bf

nappyaddict · 09/05/2008 16:28

oh i missed that bit.

OracleInaCoracle · 09/05/2008 16:31

even recently in corrie maria told carla that she "wouldnt be able to drink for 6m anyway once baby was born" because she would bf. an awful lot of soaps promote the myths about bf and dont bother to research/show the facts, because its less intrusive on the storyline to show a baby being bottlefed.

OracleInaCoracle · 09/05/2008 16:32

(i watch faaaar too many soaps )

tiktok · 09/05/2008 16:35

nappy - you haven't answered the question, though, about why it would be necessary to limit bf on tv to stop ff mothers feeling guilty.

nappyaddict · 09/05/2008 16:46

also carmella's baby on neighbours baby is breastfed. well its in scbu so she is expressing.

nappyaddict · 09/05/2008 16:47

tik tok i answered that in my post of 16:25