"Bottle-fed babies being put 'at risk' due to lack of information for mothers" - says the Telegraph, missing the point SPECTACULARLY

[hunkermunker]

"The obsession with promoting breastfeeding could be putting babies health at risk as mothers are not being given enough information about how to bottle feed their children, according to researchers."

Or, how about - midwives and health visitors are often not able to support breastfeeding well enough due to a lack of training and perhaps, just perhaps, the answer is not giving more information about bottlefeeding (because that's clearly not what the mothers want to do), it's giving better training to health professionals and raising awareness in mothers of how to tell that their babies are feeding effectively?

I see Clare Byam-Cook is spouting her drivel again. When will the papers quote someone who actually knows about bf?!

As for this:

"One midwife described the situation as "two-tier care" because breastfeeding mothers are given "wholehearted support", while bottle feeders were "left to it"."

Really? If this is the case, why aren't more women bfing at six weeks?

Of COURSE I am for safe bottlefeeding and women being shown how to make up feeds safely if they want to bottlefeed - but saying that the answer to women not breastfeeding for as long as they want is to show them how to make up bottles - seriously, how dense do you have to be to think that?!

did you see this?

Grrrrrrrrrr!

No, I didn't - thank you for that, RN.

funny how one mner even predicted the CBC 'expert' analysis being included! such drivel.

Oh ffs

I think CBC must have a stock list of handy bf paragraphs to use - some sort of quote generator.

I predict the next one will mention "poor milkers".

Wy do the same stories get rehashed so much at the same time? I'm sure I've read the same thing in another paper.

lol hunker, like the Daily Mail headline generator

Because, as I said on the other thread, you wouldn't be able to read eg Politics Of Breastfeeding if you started your article for Sunday the Thursday prior...

I saw that thread a few days ago but didn't post because it pissed me off too much. Do your own research and at least pay lip service to it being unbiased

Chrisy, what a pile of absolute offensive drivel.

Hmmm...

I think the article makes some very good points actually.

How is it 'offensive'?

The quote from Claire Byam Cook

"It is complete and utter nonsense to think that if you pretend bottle feeding doesn't exit, all mothers will breastfeed. Some mothers will never consider breast feeding. They tend to be less well educated and the very ones who need education because they are more likely to get feeding and sterilising wrong.''

Why is this 'drivel' ? Seems to me she is spot on there.

sigh

could ahve been a lot worse though - I predicted BF nazis making loving formula feeding mums feel guilty, at least it wasn't along those lines.

exit = exist.

Hate journalists who don't proof read

I didn;t breastfeed and I am educated to post grad level. so it;s drivel

the lack of support for breastfeeding is compounded by experts such as CBC churning out breast feeding advice that is, IMO, patently wrong. then you get her teaming up with annabel karmel, which endorses said wrong advice.

women should be show on a one to one basis, how to correctly make up bottles.

women should also get one to one breastfeeding support , but i think it is fair to say the breastfeeding support is going to be more complicated and in need of expert help than for bottle feeding mothers

i had a client last year who needed BF support whilst her baby was in SCBU but the breastfeeding supporter employed by the hospital did not work weekends or go to SCBU.

there is not across the board consistent 24/7 breastfeeding help.

i have yet to see wholehearted BF support.

i see a lot of top ups being recommended

I love this from Bouncing Turtle on the other (idiot journalist) thread.

'And yes I think it is height of stupidity to talk about being "pressured to breastfeed", FFS it is physiologically normal to breastfeed. You can actually argue that mothers have been under massive pressure for decades to bottle feed - and that's why bottle feeders are in the majority.'

Spot on.

What I love about all this implicit criticism of the bf-ing campaigns from people like CBC and this focus on ff-ing mums needing support is that:

a) it totally ignores the fact that the NHS publishes and hands out literature on how to make up bottles safely

b) it COMPLETELY lets the ff companies off the hook. Why does no-one ask why multi-million industries are unable to advise their consumers how to use their product safely? WTF? Makes me livid.

Of course ALL mums deserve support and advice. However, it is morally dangerous of CBC and others to seek support for FF-ing mums at the expense of bf-ing.

Good points Penth!

'women should be show on a one to one basis, how to correctly make up bottles.'

I've given birth in three different hospitals and every time this happened. If parents wanted to be shown they were, however when i asked for BFeeding help my boob was shoved in the babies mouth and she walked off.

Making up formula bottles comes with instructions. If one doesn't understand, refer to manual.

Breast feeding does not come with instructions and baby does not come with a manual.

yeah how about they read the instructions on the back of the packet

Where are all these women who were desperate to formula feed but due to lack of instruction and pressure to breastfeed are now unhappily breastfeeding their 2 year olds?

Perhaps what people like CBC etc. won't admit is that many people who FF won't follow the safety advice given by the NHS or the instructions on the packet.

How many threads are there on MN where someone comes on effectively asking for permission to make up bottles in a way which is more convenient to them, but which does introduce an element of risk? Lots and lots of MNers respond saying, "Well, you're told to do it this way, but it's a hassle, so I did it this way..."

FaintlyMacabre
that's exactly the point I was making
How many babies just don';t get fed because their parents can't make up bottles?
How many babies don't get breastfed because of lack of support for the mother?
And when that happens - put them on bottles, it's easier
So I don't see why this has been picked as the big issue, the huge risk