Oh dear Oxfam have made a bit of a boob (or actually a bottle in this case!)

[mawbroon]

Have a look at this. Especially around 2 mins when Mel B makes an appearance

If you understand why this is a big blunder on their part and feel strongly enough to complain, then you can do so here

Good point , Fallen - making breastfeeding a 'niche' choice for people who somehow 'get it' is not good. This is why many organisations and others don't care for the 'breast is best' message, as it makes breastfeeding special and 'different' - like designer clothes or something

Breastfeeding is just normal, and should be a realistic choice for everyone - the lazy, the energetic, the crazy, the sane, the feckless and reckless, the sensible, rich, poor, posh, chav...anyone.

Oh good, someone's trawled out the good old "militant" tag.

Oxfam should have know better but it's not a big deal in this case.

Fio - I posted below about why it's a matter of principle to be consistent in messages, and not to contribute to the use of bottles and not to contribute to the iconography of bottles = babies.

It's not going to make an individual difference to bf stats of course it won't - but it's adding to the 'drip drip' effect.

Debates like this are awareness raising, and I think prob make more difference - though even then you wouldn't be able to quantify it.

Thanks, tiredlady, BTW.

but tiktok it's the lack of acknowledgement that some women simply are not able to breastfeed that leads to so many women feeling guilty about switching to formula.

Just look at some of the posts on here: "my hv/mw says I'm not producing enough milk"/"your hv is talking bollocks - no such thing as not producing enough milk" is a frequent one. And yet it happens. But people refuse to acknowledge that it happens, and usually these people aren't qualified - they take the information they've gathered from their various websites/leaflets/experiences with other people and use it to back up their cause.

Had I posted on here that I wasn't producing milk and wanted to give ds formula I have absolutely no doubt that I would have been told that there's no such thing as a woman who doesn't produce milk and to persivere. And what would have been the outcome of that? because I didn't produce milk. None. once my collostrum dried up that was it. So without formula my ds would no doubt have suffered tremendously. And maybe I'm the one in millions this happens to, but just maybe I'm not. And if people just acknowledged that breastfeeding doesn't work out for a lot of people, then maybe there wouldn't be this divide between those that bf and those that don't, and are made to feel as if they didn't do the best for their babies as a result.

Have a go at NESTLE not OXFAM, ffs

I am very dubious that anyone watching that video would in anyway be influenced to use a bottle, rather than breastfeeding

Ok, yes, Oxfam should have known better than to include the bottle clip.
Tictok, I couldn't agree more with everything you put, I wish I could be as elequent with words as you!
IMO, Breastfeeding, in a 3rd world country where the finances and the means to choose to formula feed are extremely limited, BF should be heavily endorsed, educated and supported.
It is, after all, the way nature intended, and what better way ensure nutritionally well fed children in that environment?

childbirth is natural too. And statistically it is better for babies.

But now 1 in 4 babies are delivered by caesarean. Maybe we should be campaigning for natural childbirth too? Except that without caesareans some babies would die. In the same way as some babies would die without formula.

wannaBe, a lot of the time though, the "not enough milk" is down to misinformation, misunderstanding about bf-ing or problems with technique. there is no doubt that formula does save lives but reaching for formula shouldn't be the first option.

I think there are campaigns to reduce the CS rate actually.

Noonki Completely agree about Nestle its just bloody hard avoiding all their products they seem to own the world.
Wannabe I hope I didn't make you feela divide as a breastfeeder I try and understand that people are different and situations are diffrent and I'll give my advice if asked but don't like to push it into peoples faces. Fio shall we have a normal quiche?

But if a woman in a developing country is fairly malnourished herself, perhaps dehydrated from lack of water, will she produce enough bm to feed her child?

(genuine question Tiktok, not looking for you to tell everyone to ignore my post again )

But wannabe, 1 in 4, are not performed because every one of those babies would die otherwise. The rate is too high. Of course there should be caesareans in certain circumstances but many of the reasons they are performed are not in the interest of the baby but the mother. In the same way that many people who do not breastfeed are not doing so because they really physically could not. Any woman who cannot BF despite her best efforts should not be made to feel guilty, that's appalling, but most don't simply because of lack of information.

That one has always confused me - the militia tell you you can't run out of milk and that the body makes enough. Then they give you tips to 'up' your supply.

Eh? Which is it?

wannabe - I can't remember anyone saying 'there is no such thing as not producing enough milk' but if someone did say that, I and others would be contributing and asking questions and giving support...and recognising that not producing enough milk does happen. Not producing any milk at all after colostrum is very, very rare, and that it is far more likely to be that the milk is not 'coming out' for whatever reason. Nevetheless, I do believe this can happen in rare cases.

Some women do have a real problem making enough milk whatever they do - and this is acknowledged on mumsnet. There is often a lot they can do to improve their production, and this should be shared, don't you agree?

None of this should make any ff mother feel like a failure - and HVs certainly do talk bollocks about this, and often, too

gawain tbh I gave up bf without any guilt, because for me it was the choice between feeding my baby and listen to him scream while I tried to get him to latch in the hope that some milk would miraculously materialize.

But there are certainly people who preach the breastfeeding message despite the offence it might cause. I remember reading on a thread once, a poster saying that her child had self weaned quite young - after 6 m but younger than was seen to be the norm, and a poster waded in and said something along the lines of "your baby did not self wean, babies don't self wean that young, it was a nursing strike, you could have got help with that" how patronising is that?

well as to be expected that response really tik. carry on

totally - milk production depends on the baby breastfeeding effectively and often. Either of these aspects can affect the amount of milk. It's obvious women can have supply problems if their babies are not feeding often, or if they are not removing the milk effectively.

They need help with both of these things, if they want to increase their milk. The body does not produce milk like magic - it has to be 'ordered up'.

What is wrong with saying that?

I am puzzled why you would think there is a contradiction.

Mmnn, maybe MelB should have used a dummy instead [ducks and runs for cover.....]

Obviously not, Songbird - because that would be a pretty rubbish icon for universal babies and motherhood as well, wouldn't it?

Not because there is anything wrong with babies or mothers who use dummies (or bottles), though. But because we can surely come up with a better icon than a bit of industrial plastic and rubber (however useful Western mothers find it!)

I was joking! Flippin eck.

ffs

I know you were joking....not daft, you know!

The way I see this is that if we were to take this out of the baby feeding context and try a less emotive analogy the the points made by Tiktoc and others might seem bleedin' obvious.

Ok, so imagine, if you will for a minute, that there is a product for adults that needs to be re-hydrated, some sort of breakfast cereal say. People in the west use this product all the time. They have access to clean water to add to it, and the wherewithall to heat that water to the required temperature to ensure the product is safely made into a breakfast. There are rarely any problems with food poisoning, diarrhoea, etc in using the product this way.

The company that makes this product has also marketed it to developing countries. In these countries people are not able to make the product up safely as the water they use is contaminated and they often don't have enough fuel to boil the water. Lots of people die as a result of this.

Oxfam is involved in trying to protect vulnerable populations from misuse of this product.

So along comes Mel B to participate in an Oxfam film about poverty. She decides to write her name on a dehydrated cereal box as, to her, this item represents food. She successfully uses this product at home without inadvertently poisoning her loved ones.

Clued up Oxfam chappie says; "hang on a minute, Mel love, you can't do that. That box might represent 'food' to you, but in the poverty stricken areas this film is about it represents 'death'"

Mel says;"Wow, I didn't know that, thanks for the heads up, thank god I didn't write on the box as that would have been really crass, distasteful, ignorant, inappropriate and undermining to Oxfam's principles."

Or do you think she said; "Whatever, I'm going to do it anyway cos that box represents food to ME and people like me. People in poverty probably won't see this thing anyway so it's not like it matters how offensive it is to them."

It does matter because of principles, symbols, respect, understanding for others and being vigilant of airing undermining insidious messages which are made powerful through repitition no matter how short they might be.