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Original poster

Should formula milk advertising be completely illegal

352 replies

Reallytired · 07/08/2007 15:58

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/6933188.stm

I think so. Mums who need to use formula, are better off getting advice from health professionals rather than advertising.

OP posts:
SeamonstEr · 08/08/2007 13:28

oh that sounds good, almost like a holiday. with benefits of course.

muppetgirl · 08/08/2007 13:31

I agree rt

Our antenatal classes jsut handed out a breastfeeding sheet....

...that was it.

Someone on another thread was worrying about b/f as she had heard awful things about sore nipples/mastitis etc. I advised her to just get as informed on what can happen (though might not) and also what you can do about it. I think we should be armed with far more info than we currently are including the downsides and what to do to help yourself. When I asked the mw about ff she just told me off for giving him a bottle (of expressed milk) and when she visited agin dh and I had made the decision to lie to her and tell her we were still b/f. This is a ridiculous position to be in where you lie to your mw for fear of 'getting told off'. We had no info about ff and had to make our own mind up as to which one. I have only just learned that sma can give babies wind -my son had colic for 3 months, had I known I would have switched to another formula. I don't know the benefits of one formla over another, where should I have gone to find this info?

B/f is best but info does need to be more widely kown about how to do it, what are the most common complaints, what can you do to try to ease the complaints (including old wives tales)

F/f is also necessary for various reasons, but agian, more info is needed (unbiased) to chose the best for your child should you need it.

Aitch · 08/08/2007 13:32

yep. bfcs available night and day, but you're left alone apart from that. but always with a buzzer so you can get nurses to bustle in and remove annoying MiLs

muppetgirl · 08/08/2007 13:34

baby hotels.....

good god yes!

I feel that could have helped me in my situation and maybe I could have got help earlier, saving the NHS quite a bit.

Spandex · 08/08/2007 14:22

Bfing rates as low as 7% in Glasgow? That's mad. Glasgow has some of the poorest areas in Britain. They could save loads of £ by bfing. What's going on?

juuule · 08/08/2007 14:38

That's something that's always puzzled me. Why people are willing to spend all that money on formula. Cost was a big factor in deciding to bf my babies. Same for reusable nappies.

NotADragonOfSoup · 08/08/2007 14:53

Why people are willing to spend all that money on formula

Because sometimes BF-ing doesn't work!! Or they don't want to bf. Simple!!

flowerybeanbag · 08/08/2007 14:55

don't people on benefits get vouchers for formula anyway?

juuule · 08/08/2007 15:07

Seemed a good way to cut down outgoings to me. Obviously not an option if there are problems. I just can't understand people choosing unnecessary expense. Their choice, though.

VeniVidiVickiQV · 08/08/2007 17:19

Yeah but soupy - 93% of glaswegian mothers? Really?

alipiggie · 08/08/2007 17:27

juuule because if I hadn't formula fed my son would have died, plain and simple.

Aitch · 08/08/2007 17:29

it says 'in some parts of Glasgow' not Glasgow as a whole. i'm sure that's true of many poor places. and i'm sure that's what nestle would love to see happen in the third world. more profit for them if you get a generation of people thinking that formula is better than bm under your belt, then they become health workers and grandmothers and do your work for you.

juuule · 08/08/2007 17:40

Alipiggie - I think that's included where I said "Obviously not an option if there are problems"

NoBiggy · 08/08/2007 17:51

I've seen mums at clinic being given 3 or 4 tins of formula, various makes. There's also a time at the doctor's surgery when they dish it out.

Don't know what the arrangement is.

VeniVidiVickiQV · 08/08/2007 18:14

Scotland as a whole is only 50% aitch. 7% in a community, however small, is rubbish!

harpsichordcarrier · 08/08/2007 18:48

ah yea I am getting lazyemma and tiredemma confused
sorry about that
argument still specious though

AWopBopALoolaAWopBamBoo · 08/08/2007 21:32

oh yes, vvv, it is really rubbish. but it doesn't surprise me. i was the only person trying to bf on my ward of 8. despite the many posters saying breast is best.

AWopBopALoolaAWopBamBoo · 08/08/2007 21:32

am aitch, btw.

hunkermunker · 08/08/2007 21:37

Love the new outfit, Aitch - will still call you Aitch as am not sure of my wopbam spellings these days [fogey]

I was told, indignantly, when I went to "reflect" about my first bfing experience at the hospital that "there were plenty of posters up".

Yes, great, thanks. I get a Bounty pack brought to my bedside by a friendly lady who took my details and admired my baby, so I have a bottle of fabric conditioner [wtf] in bed with me, but I have to get up, lochia aplenty, norks a-throbbing and stand in a corridor to read posters. Marvellous.

foxcub · 09/08/2007 11:07

I came on here a couple of days ago and said I didn't think the adverts should be banned, because the real issue IMHO is lack of support and advice to women trying to learn how to BF.

However, having lurked regularly and read everyone elses posts, (particularly hunkermunker's) I have changed my mind somewhat. I do now think that adverts for formula should be banned, due to the influence they seem to have on health professionals. However, that doesn't negate my point that more support is needed, to prevent BF mum's giving up who don't want to give up.

There has been some good arguements made against the advertising though, IMO.

AWopBopALoolaAWopBamBoo · 09/08/2007 11:44

oh god i totally agree with you foxy that the issue is support, support, support. but i also know that despite the fact that they were giving away free c&g and SMA at my hospital, the docs were recommending aptamil. so i always think where would they have got that idea had the marketers not got to them? i must say i do think it's cool when people take something from these threads rather than just defend their initial opinion on the grounds that it is their opinion and they have a right to it etc.

hunkermunker · 09/08/2007 11:50

FC, thank you SO much for posting. I rather feel like I'm posting to a brick wall sometimes and it does get disheartening, because it's obviously something that's really important to me - but posts like yours (and emails I've had recently too - you know who you are ) really help. Sorry, this sounds like an Oscar acceptance speech. I promise not to do a Gwyneth though

Aitch, the more I think about it, the more I want to set my sights on making it illegal for formula manufacturers to offer breastfeeding supportlines. It's utterly disingenuous of them - the whole reason they do it is outrageously wrong.

AWopBopALoolaAWopBamBoo · 09/08/2007 11:55

it is completely mind-boggling, isn't it?

flowerybeanbag · 09/08/2007 12:05

totally agree about the breastfeeding support lines, how ridiculous is that?
Do they call them breastfeeding support lines? And does anyone who is having trouble breastfeeding actually really ring them? There are lots of 'proper' places you can ring for help aren't there?

bonitaMia · 09/08/2007 13:37

I BF my daughter for as long as I could, and would do it again if I had a second child, but I must say I couldn't care less whether other mums BF or FF. Am I the only one?
I am curious though: People who feel very strongly about this - why do you feel like that? How does it affect you that other women FF or BF their children? Would it make you happier and more complete as a person if all mums in the world chose to BF? In what way? I am genuinely interested why women get so militant about the way other women's bodies should be put to use.