Poor old Maria from Corrie, wanted to bf but is on the bottles by day three thanks to the scriptwriters being terrified of WOMEN.

[AitchTwoOh]

sure, Audrey is selfish and Kirk is a moron but they're both probably casually racist as well yet we don't hear anyone spouting off about how minorities are a waste of space without there being a serious plot comeuppance.

anyway, let's share happy memories of mad ranting corrie characters suddenly having a hitherto unheard strong negative opinion of bfing and then forgetting all about the subject.

sean, when violet had her baby, banging on about how he couldn't be a father and get near the baby cos of bfing. (little did he know that his bessie mate Jamie would soon steal him altogether).

and most recently audrey and kirk's 'oh you don't want to bf' 'i'm embarrassed to look' spiel.

any more?

(and then let's write to ofcom cos it's a bit ridiculous when 90% of us actually want to do it but aren't supported).

sorry ilove.

I emailed ITV and got the reponse Aitch posted above. Useless.

For anyone who wants to write to ofcom about the representation of breastfeeding on Coronation Street here is the address (again - it is on the other thread too!):

Ofcom, Riverside House, 2a Southwark Bridge Road , London , SE1 9HA .

The ofcom online complains page is here

Ofcom have to investigate further and oublish their findings if 10 complaints are made.

...so the best bet is for us to all log a personal complaint (if you so wish) rather than do one group complaint.

I included a link to the original thread in mine.

just got my campaign pack from Baby Milk Action and they suggest challenging artificial feeding when it appears in soaps. Sadly, media monitoring has found that the majority of babies in soaps are artificially fed. They suggest writing to the producers encouraging them to show babies being breastfed.

It is certainly true that this Audrey character would not be overtly racist on the show. It's important that prejudice against breastfeeding is given the same short shrift.

I am adding my complaint today

i have logged a complaint this morning.

I agree with Nugent's comments about Audrey and Kirk (my mother is Audrey, I swear) but surely Maria would be more likely to say "but I must BF, it's what you are supposed to do" etc.

The problem with this portrayal is that it reinforces the idea that BF is something no-one much likes and really it's not necessary. The reality is BF is best if you can (don't shout at me it took until DD3 before I properly BF, DD1 was FF DD2 was mixed).

If they wanted to cop out of filming BF scenes, Tony's supportive reaction should have been to call the MW to help her (this is soapland, so the MW would also be a BF counsellor!), and then she could make an informed decision to BF or FF

Agree about Maria - knowing what I do about the character I'm sure she'd want to give it a go and wouldn't just stop because of negative comments without seeking some support.

If Maria was supposed to be BF they wouldn't need to film feeding scenes, they could just refer to BF in passing in a totally normal and unforced way, like Maria could just say 'Oh, he's just had a feed' or 'He's hungry today' pulling her top back down.

They don't tend to show babies being bathed or changed (ever seen a dirty nappy on TV?) so they don't need to show them being fed. In fact, they don't show the baby much at all, usually it's just a bundle of blankets!

All they needed to do was have Maria saying she was BF and showing her getting support when she had difficulties. No need at all for the negativity.

I don't watch Eastenders, but flicking channels once there was a character feeding a a baby and a bloke (Phil Mitchell?) made a comment to which the other woman made a flippant remark like"your turn next?!" which I thought was a positive way of showing the negative attitudes of some and the fact that they can be brushed aside

I remember in Where The Heart is (yes, I know) one of the characters had expressed some milk and left it in the fridge as she was going away for the weekend. I think her baby was quite old too, not newborn anyway.

Well, you can guess what happened. DH drank it in his tea and his pals thought it was hilarious. It was all done with a light touch though and BF was presented as a totally normal thing to do.

at that reply, especially about Audrey being such a rubbish mother that she'd be bound to find bf acceptable and bottle feed her baby!
So bf mothers are offended by the episode, ff mothers offended by the reply! Well at least he's managed to offend all parents (apart from possibly mixed feeders!)

oh sorry, all my remarks have already been said
Rita vote BNP - why??? I always used to like her, has she become a bigot in the last few years?

just a name off the top of my head, stealthy. maybe i should've chosen emily... it's always the quiet ones.

phew!

DH is fed up with me shouting at Corrie about the anti-BF comments.