"Breastfeeding is oppressing women" (from The Guardian)

[morningpaper]

Let the breastfeeding rebellion begin

"In the 70s, many women protested that they were shackled to domesticity by the unreasonably high bar set for housework. Now, some say, it's not the vacuum cleaner that's oppressing women, but another sucking sound ..."

But but but but

This is a depressing article.

A British academic wouldn't give her name "because she is concerned about attacks from the pro-breastfeeding lobby"

I also fidn it really annoying when people say "I really tried to breastfeed for six days and it didn't work" - By six days lots of women will be in agony. The message that if you haven't got it cracked by six days then it hasn't worked - is just wrong.

And if there is such enormous pressure to exclusively breastfeed then why are only 3% of mothers still doing it at 5 months?

Yes women will feel guilty if they don't breastfeed. Women have the chance to feel guilty if they don't do a million things that are 'optimal' for their children's health and wellbeing. We can all agree that women need more support in the transition to motherhood, by setting up this monster of a pro-breastfeeding lobby is utterly unhelpful.

Having children BLOWS for women - your fanjo is shot to pieces, your career goes down the shitter, you piss yourself every time you sneeze, you lose your pension rights, your brain turns to mush, you have no social standing, boys stop grinning at your in the street - but BREASTFEEDING IS STILL THE OPTIMAL WAY TO FEED YOUR BABIES. You can't un-do that boring fact. And handing women a bottle isn't going to make everything better.

"Back off frowning on women breastfeeding in public and back off frowning on women bottlefeeding"

It makes for quite an interesting dilemma really doesn't it. What do these people suggest?

perhaps we could lock the pro-breastfeeding lobby in a room with the pro-bottlefeeding lobby, and not open the doors until they were all dead or at least begging for mercy. Then we would have a world full of people who either BFing but respected other people's right to feed formula, or people who were FFing but respected other people's rights to bf.

And yes, my tongue is in my cheek.

Breastfeeding does not come naturally, so it's not surprising that people give up very quickly, especially when the support isn't there to help them continue.
When do most women go back to work? 6 months, so is it surprising that only 3% are still bfed at 6 months?
I was very fortunate to have a huge amount of help from a bfing advisor (who is a personal friend). It was still hard work. I was glad when I finally got it sussed though, and kept going for 13 months.

We have to accept that bfing is NOT for everyone, and well done to those who try. But I do look at people who are bottlefeeding and wonder 'did you get the support you deserved / needed to bf? Were you given the right help early enough?'

does anybody else not buy 'happy mummy happy baby'? i remember being sodding miserable bfeeding dd1 (see earlier posts) but she was very content. MW kept telling me to bottledfeed because 'happy mummy happy baby'. for the first few weeks after giving up bfeeding i kept telling myself 'happy mummy happy baby'. dd was actually really sick and unsettled on formula. sure my nipples were rested but 'happy mummmy happy baby' just didn't cut it for me.

i know in many cases where women stick with breastfeeding, 2 or so weeks of sheer hell were followed by months of bliss, convenience and pride in what they are doing. It helps to be in a family /community where breastfeeding is the norm. I remember when my sis in law gave birth she was against bfeeding initially because she says her mum told her her boobs would sag but her husband wanted her to give it a go, she did agree begrudgingly. he did say it was ultimately up to her but did prefer if the baby got colostrum atleast. the first 5-7 days were misery for her and she was on the brink of giving up. at the same time i was bfeeding my 18 month old and my sis was bfeeding her 9 month old. she said all along that seeing how content our dd's were and seeing how practical bfeeding a toddler is, first hand, kept her going. if you can't see the end goal with your own two eyes it's very difficult to keep it up. she's now still bfeeding her nearly one yr old and says she is thrilled she never gave up and will continue to bfeed till her ds self weans.

If western culture got around to accepting breastfeeding was tiring, hard work, natural and beautiful - good for society as a whole, the culture would make it easier for women to breastfeed. There'd be less invasive stares, more people giving up their seat, and more experienced, understanding women to show you how and support you in a life which has to change. Children change your world whatever. We are built this way. We need to educate society. Changing attitudes will liberate our world. Childcare facilties and working patterns and pressures all conflict with the evidence the governmnent KNOWS to be true about what is best for kids and how to build a healthier society.

I don't believe in judging anybody's decisions or how they choose to nuture the children of tomorrow. Obviously most parents do their best to balance needs. It just seems that so much simple knowledge abt how to breast feed easily, painlessly and enrich your lives has been passed over. I had incredibly painful first few weeks, toddler still has mummy's milk and is good for us both. CONTACT LA LECHE LEAGUE if you struggle, read their books. It really helps with all sorts of challenging issues ie how to stimulate supply, tell if child is hungry or bored, how to cherish yrself with or without partner to help. I love it!!!

Hello, glad to see I'm not the only one who had trouble! I bf my eldest for 4 months with formula topups too but still felt massively guilty til he was about 18 months old because I felt I hadn't done enough, so when youngest was delivered by emergency section - (turned out he has a heart condition, SVT) and was in special care plus in and out of hospital a lot, bf didn't last more than 2 weeks with him. I was gutted. Was also v miffed at jaunty pro-bf propaganda in Childrens ward, SCBU, PICU, etc: seems to me that could be hard to see for mums who may not have been able to feed at all cos baby too ill, or they too ill themselves. Upshot is, my view is that a more even - handed approach is needed - BOTH feeding methods are ok! BABIES JUST NEED FOOD!!!!!!!!!!!! AND THEY DON'T JUST CRY COS THEY'RE HUNGRY EITHER!!!!!!!!!! Oh dear, think I need a lie down now...