It was on Saturday, I can't find it on line anymore. I have cut and pasted it from another thread.
Sir - The account given (Health, Sept 8) of the National Childbirth Trust (NCT) bears no resemblance to the fantastic group of friends I have made in my local branch.
I became involved in the NCT shortly after the birth of my daughter. I found myself at home alone with a new baby, and found the whole experience incredibly lonely. There seemed to be nothing much to do for mums and babies other than Sure Start schemes and, as I happened to live in the wrong postcode area, I was excluded from their activities.
The NCT, in contrast, welcomed everyone, regardless of age, wealth, postcode or how you fed your baby. As a bottlefeeding mum, I was very nervous of going to a coffee morning, but I needn't have worried. No one was judgmental at all (in my NHS ante-natal classes, they had made me feel like a leper for wanting to bottle-feed) and it was great just to chat to other mums and feel that I was not alone.
We are a mixture of mothers, living in a traditional working-class city, with a variety of incomes. Some chose to stay at home after the birth of their baby; others went back to work either part-time or full-time. During my second pregnancy, I again found support and information, and the non-judgmental attitudes meant that, that time round, I felt able to breastfeed.
From:
Julie Faulkner, Branch Secretary, North Staffs NCT, Stoke-on-Trent, Staffs