Is this legal? Breastfeeding ban in family court!

[Aero]

Unbelievable!

Spero why would that 'turn you off' breastfeeding?

It's not about politics it's about feeding a child.

I don't know what kind of problems. I've been lucky enough to have two excellent feeders.

we'd need more background to make a judgment really.

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Damn. i will just have to admire you from afar.

Imflight, it turned me off because.... deep breath... it is a little bit self righteous. and annoying. And sometimes, completely OTT.

Family courts are secret. People whose children have been adopted against their will are told they must not discuss it with anyone, ever, even their MPs - effectively prevented from seeking redress. I know one woman (a victim of Roy Meadows) whose medical records were sealed - causing great problems because she had a serious, disabling condition.

NoI agree with you Spero that the self righteous and ott attitude of some people is a turn off, but it wouldn't turn me off bfing, just turn me off those people iyswim. It isn't representative of most of us y'know.

I am not quite sure what you mean Edam. People are not prevented from seeking redress. that is why we have the ECHR. the UK has been subject (sadly) to loads of adverse judgments about how they've cocked up in family cases. Which they do. We are all human and we make terrible mistakes, hullo Professor Sir Roy.

But secret is the pejorative word for private. And I do think it is a good idea that distressing, scurrilous facts about a child's circumstances are kept OUT of the public domain.

Seeking redress when you have been the victim of a legal injustice is entirely another matter. I am not aware of anything preventing people from seeking justice if they have an arguable case that their article 8 rights have been breached without justification.

I think you do have to be careful about getting only one side of the story when people tell you about their sufferings in the family court. remember that father quoted in the Evening Standard some years ago. Sent for jail for sending one text!! read the headline.

Yeh... one text AND several phone calls threatening to kill the mother of this child.

Imflight, i know, I know, you are totally right but I was having an awful time with cracked nipples etc and one session at baby yoga listening to one uber breast feeder in particular just finished me off. I let them get to me. Which was stupid. But i bet I'm not the only one.

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Yes but once you've named the parents and every one of their disgusting sexual predilictions, most local people can work out who the children are.

God, I bet you're not Spero - that's really sad and I can imagine exactly why that would have finished you off.

Sorry if I've been insensitive.

No of course you haven't Imflight - unless it was YOU opining at baby yoga that mothers who didn't breastfeed just weren't trying and didn't care etc, etc, etc bloody etc.

Two hours earlier my dd had pulled away in disgust her mouth full of blood from cracked nipple. One hour later I was rampaging thru tesco piling my trolley high with SMA in some kind of misplaced eff off to uber mother.

Hmm re the feeding probs, IIRC (it's all a distant haze now) my DS didn't really latch on properly and consistently until about 9-10 weeks. It really wasn't until about 12-14 weeks that I would hve felt confident enough to leave him.

I don't know if that's common or not tbh.

No, that wasn't me.
I count myself very lucky not to have had problems with that - in fact it's the only aspect of parenting I've been any use at, frankly - so I wouldn't judge you there!

Babies need two things imo - food, and love.

If they're getting both they're fine.
The rest is a grey area really.

Spero, people are prevented from seeking redress by being ordered not to discuss the case with anyone, ever, including their MPs. Which is clearly an abuse of democracy. You can't enforce your rights under human rights legislation if you aren't allowed to even mention the case!

I know it sounds extraordinary and unbelievable but it does actually happen - look up the MSbP cases (also known as FII, in a Windscale/Sellafield attempt at rebranding).

(And I'm not some naive, ill-informed idiot who bases their comments on one newspaper headline. Thanks very much.)

I think that there is a bit of confusion over the use of the name Family Court. There are two types - one is held in the magistrates' courts and deals with adoptions, child protection, etc.; the other is part of the County Court and deals with orders relating to contact, residency, etc.

The proceedings in the magistrates' courts are secret, in that there are reporting restrictions in place. The proceedings in the County Court are not secret, per se, but are generally held "in camera", i.e. in private. It is rare for these proceedings to be the subject of any sort of gagging order, although it is not impossible. It is more that the parties to the proceedings rarely want their private dealings aired outside the court.

completely agree with edam - i've worked with several cases where families have been prevented from talking about their cases while they go through the family courts. some people might recall the case of Miss W and Baby E and Essex social services - they've been successful in their case and are still not able to come out and speak to the press under their real names. why is that? is it to protect the child? no, because the child was never in any danger and has been returned to her family.

the secrecy of the family courts is one of the biggest problems with the UK adoption process.

with lots of respect and not trying to assume anything about the naivety of various posters, honest... there is a difference between wanting to go the papers because you think you have been unfairly treated and being entitled to legal redress because court has made mistake of fact/law. the fact that the UK has been so soundly rebuked in numerous European judgments is surely proof of that.

Lots of my clients believe they have been unfairly treated. that doesn't mean its true. Maybe if they stopped taking heroin for more than a few weeks they might see this.

Freckle, i don't understand this distinction. Child protection cases may have to start in mags but certainly don't have to continue there. Adoption as far as i know can only be a county court matter? All family proceedings are private. Its not the choice of the parents.

care and adoption proceedings can be heard in either the family proceedinsg courts (magistrates) or the County Court. Count Court cases are the more complex ones which take longer to hear

well as cod has mentioned our love child I feel i need to post

I moved to kent after i had my first two children. I moved fromt he west midlands where breastfeeding was pretty normal and had my two eldest in staffordshire. Most people breastfed there and if you bottlefed it was seen as a bit odd. I moved to kent 4 yrs ago and have since had another child, cods love child. I have seen hardly anyone breastfeed in east kent. Infact I was the only breastfeeding mother at a toddler group of 40+ mums. That is odd. I honestly think its an area thing, not a national thing at all. My friend who moved down here from manchester said she felt exactly the same as me.

sorry folks but that was my 2penceworth

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Spero, just because many of your clients are unreasonable heroin addicts, doesn't mean there aren't people who really have been victims of injustice - you only have to follow the careers of Roy Meadows and David Southall to see that. Or look at poor Sally Clark, Angela Cannings, Donna Anthony, etc. etc. etc. in the criminal courts.

Some mums do bf nearly all the time at that young age and are not separated from their baby. It's her parenting choice and should be respected. Not all babies are crying babies.

Goodness me - this has moved on a bit. I just wondered if it was legal!

rofl @ cod and fio! Agree re Kent fio - hardly any bfers here either.

it is weird isnt it aero? I honestly thought it was just me but as others who moved here from out of area felt the same, I thought maybe it wasnt iykwim I remember going to a massage group when ds2 was about 8 weeks old (very young anyway) and I was the only breastfeeding mum there too and all the babies were under 2 months old(!!) Everyone stared at me when I fed him...mind you they do at the toddler group too and I have started to avoid it. Not for that reason alone though