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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

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Original poster

Would you sign a petition to make formula only available on prescription?

310 replies

FourArms · 17/02/2010 08:35

I've just been sent a link to this petition.

I don't think there is any way this would happen now in the UK, but would it be better than the current situation?

The further petition details are:

Breastfeeding has always, and will always be the best way to feed a baby. If Infant Formula Milk is only available on prescription, it will mean that a mother will have to physically talk to her doctor about any issues (including physical, emotional and mental)she has with breastfeeding. This will mean that the incidence of breastfeeding will increase and the level of support that women have with their breastfeeding will also increase. It will also mean that there will be fewer illnesses in babies and young children, costing the NHS millions less in resources, and leading to a generally healthier population.

OP posts:

Mollie1 · 27/02/2010 11:31

No I wouldn't bl**dy sign it!!! Live and let live - breast may be best but formula is a damn good alternative for many woman.

beautifulgirls · 27/02/2010 15:32

Buglet · 28/02/2010 10:29

my ds would be dead without formula thanks to the 'baby friendly breast nazis' at my local hospital who gave me NO support when my newborn would not feed.

Thank god for formula and the latest research shows it is JUST AS GOOD as breast milk.

tiktok · 28/02/2010 12:35

Can you link to this latest research, Buglet? Or say where you saw it?

Thanks

dolphin13 · 28/02/2010 14:12

God no what happened to choice. It is not always possible to breastfeed. Some mums feel so guilty because they can't breastfeed why should we make them feel worse. I didn't breast feed my first 2. Number 3 was adopted so no choice but whats most important is that they are all healthy and happy

farmerjones · 28/02/2010 14:12

farmerjones · 28/02/2010 14:15

buglet, formula is not just as good as breastmilk. its a susbtitute for when breastmilk isnt available,
but i would never sign such a petition.

Lulumaam · 28/02/2010 14:17

just want to add, the petition only has 23 signatures, so i thikn that the prevalent view points here on MN are true across the board, that this is a facile and stupid petition, based in some sort of naive misogyny and wofeul misunderstanding of how to improve rates of taking up and continuance of breast feeding.

Blu · 28/02/2010 14:23

No, I absolutely would not sign.

(bf DS til he was 2, would be apalled at the idea of any woman's choice or circumstance being regulated like that - I would campaign against it if anyone took this petition seriously!)

It's silly anyway - there is no reason for Formula to be distributed like a prescription drug.

Buglet · 28/02/2010 17:02

it was in a news report and in the Evening Standard about research done in Denmark or somewhere like that about 3 or 4 weeks ago.I didn't keep it but I'm sure it will pop up on google.

tiktok · 28/02/2010 19:14

Aha - the stuff from Norway, issued by Professor Carlsen?

Totally discredited, sorry.

There was a lot of discussion of it on mumsnet and it, and its flaws, were discussed in the media.

You can get a good overview on why this study was weak and simply did not find the conclusions you say it did on the NHS Choices website www.nhs.uk/news/2010/01January/Pages/Hormones-and-breastfeeding.aspx

Tip: don't believe everything you read in the papers, especially not the Evening Standard, and if you then SHOUT the misinformation on a takboard it makes you look uninformed. Don't you agree?

NiceShoes · 28/02/2010 19:33

Miaow! Especially the passive aggressive smilie. Numerous other dubious research linked on Mumsnet too on both sides.

tiktok · 28/02/2010 21:00

"Numerous other dubious research linked on Mumsnet too on both sides."

No sure what this means, except I think it means I am being hypocritical because I have linked (though Buglet did not link) to 'dubious' research myself. No doubt you'll be able to come up with an example - just one will do, though you do say 'numerous'.

Waiting....

tiktok · 28/02/2010 21:02

And the is intended to soften the criticism, not to be 'passive aggressive'.

ilovehugs · 28/02/2010 21:55

There are quite a few countries were you already have to do this because of the post-nestle-baby scandle.

If formula milk, from it's invention had only ever been available on pescription for certain circumstances, breastfeeding would be a much, much bigger part of our culture. Apart from the obvious commercial benefits of formula milk, it was developed at a time when women who couldn't/wouldn't breastfeed would end up giving cows milk and even evaporated milk to their babies. Not good. My dad's partner and her entire circle of mum-friends in the 60s all used to give their babies watered down evaporated milk. Apparently it even had the instructions for that on the tin.

If that became law today, the NHS simply doesn't have the skill or the systems in place to deal with the fall-out of mothers who need allot of help to establish breastfeeding. All the cultural problems that hamper breastfeeding rates are not going to disapear over night. It would take years and years for women to be in apalce were breastfeeding is easier because they have grown up seeing breastfeeding all around them. Most importanly it's about choice. It's one thing to not give people a choice. But to give them a choice for over 50 years, allow that choice to become part of the culture and then take it away is quite another.
Great idea, but i think if it was ever to work, you would have to invent a time machine and get it signed off in the 50s.

tiktok · 28/02/2010 23:22

Where is formula only available on prescription, ilovehugs? I think you have this wrong.

Your understanding of why and when formula was developed is not correct, either, sorry.

SpeedyGonzalez · 28/02/2010 23:30

"If Infant Formula Milk is only available on prescription, it will mean that a mother will have to physically talk to her doctor about any issues (including physical, emotional and mental)she has with breastfeeding." - in which case, said mother will have no hope of bfing effectively.

What a bizarre petition.

ilovehugs · 01/03/2010 00:58

Hi Tiktok.

Have just had a very fascinating hour or so reading up on the history of formula milk after your comment. You were right by saying that I was wrong! I feel stupid now, obviously, but glad that I've had the oportunity to correct my facts. What I wrote was based on anecdotes from my mum/gran/some midwives. The point being that people did used to feed their babies on total cack like diluted Carnation milk.

tiktok · 01/03/2010 09:41

No worries, ilovehugs....it's not unusual to think one 'knows' something and it's just not correct.

Carnation milk and other forms of evaporated milk were commonly used for babies up to the early 70s, but they were an advance on what went on before, as was powder, and actually not that different from current infant formula. They were an advance because it wasn't until the 1960s/70s that just about everyone had a fridge, so buying milk you did not have to keep fresh was safer.

They opened the tin and diluted the contents with water, and I think added sugar to it, as well (not sure about that).

Modern formula powders became popular in the 1970s. They'd had the protein content modified to make it easier for babies to digest.

mummyof2byapril · 01/03/2010 09:46

Yes I would sign the petition, breastfeeding is far more prevelent in America among the poorer people.
However bottlefeeding in England is a massive trend, I think that's because formula is free for people on benefits.

If women in England had to go to doctor and explain why they couldn't feed naturally, rather than just being given free formula, it might make breastfeeding more of a norm and we'd have healthier children.

furrycat · 01/03/2010 09:56

Absolutely not. DS1 wouldn't breastfeed - midwives actually told me I was doing it right but he wasn't interested. I felt terrible. Imagine being told I could only get formula on prescription as if he was ILL.

A stupid, smug campaign. Please stop it.

LOL at the last poster's snotty comment about people on benefits

mummywoowoo · 01/03/2010 10:00

No that's way over the top! and v nanny state etc... Really don't think gp's need any more work do they?!

tiktok · 01/03/2010 10:01

mummyof2byapril - you have got things wrong.

" breastfeeding is far more prevelent in America among the poorer people."

Not correct.

Bottle feeding is common in the UK, but this is not because people on benefits get formula free ( a few people on low incomes/benefits get vouchers which they can exchange for a range of foods, inc formula). The voucher system is virtually irrelevant to people's infant feeding decisions...as you would know if you had a better knowledge of the situation.

Please read the thread, which explains in many posts why formula on prescription is not a good idea.

RubyBuckleberry · 01/03/2010 10:01

is formula free for people on benefit?

tiktok · 01/03/2010 10:04

ruby

www.healthystart.nhs.uk/

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