Annabel Karmel, not content with making weaning sound complicated, has turned her hand to breastfeeding

[hunkermunker]

Words fail me

And yes, there are snippets in there that are true/useful - but HOW you dredge through the stuff that's unnecessary/nice to have but not essential - who knows?!

That's great that she helped you to bf but you do know that you could have got help for free don't you?

I know how lost you can feel when you have problems with bf. I would have turned to anyone when I was struggling to feed dd at 3-5 weeks. I got help from a La Leche League Leader for free. She gave me her mobile number and told me to text or call her if I needed help (which I did). She let me turn up with my baby wherever she was working that day and helped me. I was worried I didn't have enough milk (after expressing to check!) and she explained supply and demand to me.

My big worry was that I might not be able to bf and I kept asking her if it was too late to "fix" my problem. She was always very calm and always said not at all. She absolutely believed that I could bf and told me abandon all thoughts of formula.

I also came on here and got help from TikTok (also free) and support from other MNers telling me I could do it. We've never looked back, still BF at 4 months now.

I have looked at CBC's book and had intended to buy it before seeing the LLL bf consultant. Lucky I was too sleep deprived to be able to cope with a trip to Borders! I would have definately given up and gone to formula. I'd have believed I had supply problems and that I was starving my baby.

I think its a shame that AK didn't think to get advice from somewhere like LLL or NCT rather than from CBC. IMHO Clare encourages mums to quit and I know that would have left me heart broken and regretful for the rest of my life.

I agree with Earlscourtqueen. I breastfed my first baby for four months. He was born on the 25th percentile and due to my constant blocked milk ducts he went down to the 2nd percentile. I spoke to several NCT breastfeeding councillors and met with one who all advised me to carry on regardless although it is now clear that he was not getting enough milk. I promised myself not to breastfeed my next child as the blocked ducts had been so painful and the NCT councillors had said that I would most likely block up again. But when the time came I wanted to give it another go. I saw Clare Byam-Cook when my baby was 3 days old as it was obvious the feeding was not going well again. She immediately corrected the way my baby was latched on and for the first time since he was born he sucked properly and had a good feed. Without her I would not have been able to continue breastfeeding. I can't believe she's gets so much criticism when she is helping so many mothers.

callipop, I am certain that CBC does help mothers to breastfeed, and that some people respond well to her approach. I think it is awful you had to get private help 3 days postnatal - amending positioning to enable happy bf is basic midwifery care that should be easily available, but in too many cases is not.

I think the criticism comes because of what people have read of CBC's writing - some of it seems to be incorrect, and would actually lead people to stop bf, rather than continue.

If CBC causes more damage than does good, I wish she would cease to provide her services until she is better equipped and the equation is reversed.

Based on her advice, I suspect she has destroyed bresatfeeding more times than assisted it.

Even cowboy builders probably hammer a nail in successfully once in a while.

So Callipop and earlscourtqueen both never posted on Mumsnet before, both can't write in paragraphs, both love BC, both have no profiles (well, not all of us do admittedly )

suspicious, moi?

love CBC, obviously, small freudian slip (and crumbs under keys!)

earlscourtqueen and Callipop. Clare Byam-Cook is a lactaction consultant so will have helped some individual women if she didn't she wouldn't have succeeded in her field and she is to be commended for that. My posh friend used her and she's good at getting women to latch.

But the key thing here is that using her platform as a 'celebrity' breastfeeding coach she is disseminating incorrect and outdated information about breastfeeding that has the potential to fuck up many more women's breastfeeding experiences than individuals she has helped.

I never read any breastfeeding books (my baby turned up early) but had been given the Gina Ford book (by the same posh friend, er, thanks!) and although I never intended to follow the plan I did read a bit and the advice CBC gave about breastfeeding and expressing being a sign of supply really really messed with my head and almost derailed things for me. For that, and that alone, she gets a resounding two fingers up from me.

I started breastfeeding without any knowledge of how it worked and I didn't have the confidence I have now to ignore her batshit advice. Especially as I had a small baby so there wasn't a lot of margin for error.

I've since skimmed her book at a friends and there' something about the tone and the advice that makes me think she secretly despises women and motherhood.

Wanted to add that my posh friend who used her only breastfed for 8 weeks after topping up and half-heartedly b/feeding before finally giving up. Mind you, she keeps hinting that I should stop b.feeding my 7-month old daughter so it's clear she isn't all that into it anyway.

CBC wasn't teh one on that god awful programme a fair while back, where they tried out different routines/childrearing techniques, with family's of new Baby's...or is she, i.e. the one with that very strict routine, thing...
anyone know what I am talking about?

FairLady, that was Claire Verity, not CBC.

oh right...I wasn't sure...easily confused me...

Just a further point, the lactation consultant I saw WAS a fully qualified IBCLC consultant.. Clare came highly reccomended by numerous people, including the midwives in my hospital. I cant thank clare enough for her help and advice. It is a real shame that to think that when seeking medical help and advice that you can be so misled, but Clare is straight forward with real sound advice that works for the indivisuals and not preaching from a text book. I can only say great things about Clare Byam Cook.

lol at the 2 CBC fans

foxytocin - what a fantastic video!

Just a further point earlscourtqueen - why have you posted an almost identical post on 2 forums?.......and how much is she paying you?

what a load of bollocks. I dont know what is worse, that she write that crap or that some poor women actually read it and take notice.

AK is a total twat!

She looks like a lawyer and she definetely earns more that a lawyer.
She has always an immaculate Wella hair style and perfectly shaped finger nails... the EXACT image you would expect for someone spending endless hours in the fucking kitchen!

She can fuck right off to Legoland with her stupid recepies about frying crougettes in butter!

um

okaaaay

Are you enjoying the wine advanced search facilities tonight Jeema?

Quite like courgettes in butter meself. I mean, I'm not too fussed about AK but I've got no grudges against the courgettes

i've already read this once ! you are cluttering up my precious mumsnet moment

so much to read.... so little time

Um, Jeeena you seem to hate her so much you have resurrected a year-old thread.

And you're a little bit scary, too, love.

'She can fuck right off to Legoland'

Is there some significance to fucking off to Legoland rather than elsewhere?

I'm also quite partial to courgettes in butter, as is DS. I've never cooked an AK recipe in my life though, I think she's fairly awful.