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

[FourArms]

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.

I wouldn't say it was breastfeeding fundamentalism. More likely to be breastfeeding keenness combined with naivity and a bit of ignorance about what will actually work.

"I think you are all loons. I'm going to start a petition to ban stupid petitions like these!" - this is now signatory number 11 - wouldn't be any of you lot would it ;)

No never in a million years

Often when I need a repeat prescription for myself I have to drop the form to the doctor, pick it up 2 days later, take it to the chemist who invariably doesn't have it in stock/is very busy/is having a whole hour for lunch. So I have to collect it from the chemist the next day.

Knowing how disorganised I was when DS was young, I know I wouldn't have been able to plan stocks in advance and get my arse into gear to get to the doc and start the long process every week. So would DS be expected to have no milk for 3 days until I can get hold of some formula for him (or survive on the couple of ounces of breastmilk I was able to produce each day).

I like the idea of being able to get cheap unbranded formula, or even a medical consultation about breastfeeding and formula being given subsequently for free if necessary, but not with the current long process of obtaining prescription products.

Never.
Saddens me that bf rates are so low, but this is not the answer.

no

No. Definitely not.

Yes

Absolutely not.

When i gave birth to ds1 i fully intended to breastfeed and tried desperately for 3 days. Unfortunately due to personal reasons which i didnt really want to go into and describe it felt totally wrong to me and i could not deal with it. I was practically bullied by midwives who accused me of being a silly young mum who just didnt want to try and it really put a dampener on my first few weeks of being a parent.

When i gave birth to ds2 i didnt even try as i knew i still felt the same and was subjected to the same kind of comments from people.

If i had to, on top of all of that, persuade a doctor off my reasons and hope he would understand i would have been mortified, I think it is a serious breach into human rights to question every part of parenting, This is not a nanny state quite yet thank god.

really yes? Vinegartits

monkey, don't rise to her.

Ahhh got ya

of course it a no, its lunacy

There's never been any support for 'formula only on prescription' on mumsnet, and for excellent reasons. Anyone who knows about breastfeeding support in the UK knows that it is very poor, and it's widely acknowledged that GPs may have very poor training in it - how mad to think these would be the very people to decide if someone needed formula for medical necessity.

Any baby who is not breastfed needs formula as a necessity, any way, but I don't think this is what petitioners mean!

Infant feeding has become medicalised - formula maufacturers make spurious medical-type claims for their formula. Hospital mat. units imposed timings and regulations on bf, which undermined it. In fact, medicalisation of infant feeding is what got us into this mess in the first place (at least partly). Infant feeding 'belongs' to mothers and babies, and not to doctors and midwives, whose track record is not good.

By the way, I hope we can continue discussing this sensibly, without contributions saying, so naively, 'health effects are untrue 'cos I ff and my kids are fine and someone else bf and her kids get ill' ...see tobago's post earlier today. We can be a bit more grown up and intelligent, I hope

Of course the way babies are fed has an effect on their health. Of course women should have the facts - but not the threat of prescription-only formula.

I was annoyed at 'it's not healthier and I have a sample of 3 kids so I must be right' too.

Something being healthier does not mean that all BF children will be healthier than all FF children, just that the average BF child will be healthier than the average FF child.

No

phew VT i thought that was a joke! You got me good.

Definitely not

Would that be a no from everyone? That is the biggest shock - MN agreeing on something

woah there differentnameforthis, just seen your post from this morning

"How fucking judgemental! Penalising a BABY because their mother chooses not to breastfeed? Fucking ludicrous behaviour!

Until you have been through trying to get a BASIC food source on Rx for your baby, you have NO right to deny ANY woman the most basic of human rights...to be able to feed how they want!"

I never said anything about penalising anybody and wasn't being remotely judgemental. I just meant that it might be nice as an option for people who can't breastfeed to not have to pay for it. I'm not suggesting formula shouldn't also be sold in the shops too!! I also agree with people who say it would be a nightmare with repeat prescriptions and a lot of hassle and generally not worth it as a whole. Have a friend who had ds with severe intolerances who used to get prescriptions for a can of something with about 10 feeds worth in it at a time and the chemist used to order it one at a time when the prescription came in!! believe me I have seen firsthand the frustration involved!

I wouldn't sign it.

No.

In case you haven't seen this yet: It?s not breast-milk that makes babies brainier. It?s clever mothers

don't panic - this will never happen - far too much to lose by the formula industry.

secondly it might be quite dangerous - gps are courted by different drug companies which led to me having a nasty reaction to my meds because my doc changed the brand without telling me - i imagine what would happen is that the formula company with the biggest backhanders or whatever would end up being prescribed - not the most nutritionally appropriate

No way!