Ed Milliband and breastfeeding

[rebmadrid]

I know its a matter of personal choice etc but should Ed Milliband really be going on the news from a Dudley Tesco publicising the fact that his new baby takes formula rather than breastmilk? Shouldn't he now be doing valuable work promoting 'breast is best'?

I agree with HF

well I for one am glad that the mu=others are feeding their babies how they choose too.
why should they pretend to do something just to make a point.

agree with mgf - if politicians are going to bring "baby feeding" into public then they need to consider if the message they are putting across fits with the party line

"Wouldn't it be great if either partner spoke up and said that she'd wanted to bf but couldn't, and been frank and open about that?"

and what if she didn't want to BF???

I have to disagree with OP,

the silly thing is, i searchd for Leo Blair an found no pictures of him being fed...not one. I think he was FF but there is no piccie to confirm this - obv blair decided to leave that side of things out.

i think this time round they have chosen to publicise their choices to be more 'relatable'

Then don't mention it.

That would at least indicate that the politician knew, or had been briefed, on the issues around BF and that if you haven't got anything constructive to say, don't say it, because it pisses people off.

We already have Katie Price and Denise Van Outen for the "don't want to" brigade.

I knew this would come up when I saw the news last night.

This has nothing to do with whether or not Ed Miliband's partner breastfeeds, wanted to breastfeed, didn't want to breastfeed, could breastfeed, couldn't.

Nothing.

Her choice is her own business.

But Ed Miliband chose to bring this into the public domain, and chose to highlight the brand he used. The BBC chose to show this bit of the sequence and then to 'enhance' it with a close up of the branded formula.

I have no idea why the BBC did not spot this unusual bit of free advertising and avoid it.

I can imagine that Ed M has been told /decided to use the fact he is a father at all opportunities - we have to be reminded of why he has been Mr Invisible since his election as leader... 'cos he's been on paternity leave, the lovely man, see? He's so normal and cuddly and involved as a dad! We've had refs to it at PMQs, we have had an official portrait released to the press, and now we have him pointing out infant formula in Tesco's.

It is free publicity to Aptamil; it does undermine breastfeeding promotion efforts - not by much, of course, but it adds to it.

It's not acceptable.

you can complain to the Beeb [[https://www.bbc.co.uk/complaints/forms/process/news?id=RPT0PUU8ASGRQM5J8LU4FAQIOK&uid=318805604

here]]

Tiktok, this must be the first time I've disagreed with one of your posts. Not about the Aptamil where I totally agree that the BBC got it wrong, but ref your comment re paternity leave.

I think it's eminently reasonable, in fact desirable, that politicians take paternity leave and all credit to Blair/Cameron/Milliband for doing so and, yes, for publicising this fact.

I avoid radio phone ins like the plague but caught a trailer (R2 or R5 can't remember) for should EM have taken paternity leave?. Of course he should. What message does it send about fathers in society if "important" men are somehow exempt or above the right to take 2 weeks off with their newborn child and its mother.

Oh dear - I am all in favour of paternity leave! I think he should have taken longer!

That's not what I object to - sorry if it wasnt clear.

He was criticised in the press for taking PL and he has been hellbent on reminding people why he was not around, and the mention of it is political to enhance his popularity - the mention of Aptamil was part of this.

Oh, I do agree that it was political, it all is these days isn't it!

I guess I was coming from the angle that any promotion/"normalising" of paternity leave is in essence a good thing.

Where as going for the photo op with bottlefeeding father/supermarket shop for formula probably isn't.

IYSWIM

Perhaps he's been talking about paternity leave in order to normalise paternity leave?

Normal practice for the BBC is to not mention brand names unless directly relevant to the story - in this piece instead of saying 'a supermarket' the presenter names Tescos, and subsequently shows Ed Miliband indicating a brand of formula and then showing the packaging that clearly identified it as Aptamil. Advertising of all brands is not in line with the BBCs mission - advertising of infant forumla for babies under 6 months of age is illegal. The Editor should have not allowed the mention of the brand names to have been in the piece, and should have blurred the packaging or used a different shot.

BBC News At Ten 25/11/10

follow foxys link if you wish to complain about this

I BF all my 6DC. It was my choice no one elses. I do not care how Ed Miliband or David Cameron choose to feed their DC. I don't think the BBC should have named the retailer or the brand but that's nothing to do with EM.

Don't much care how they feed their children.

Do care slightly that a politician who was probably advised on things wasn't in the slightest bit aware of the WHO code. Surely that should have been basic research for his team when they decided he would be talking about the baby after he got back from paternity leave.

Would be easy to do a quick list of dos and don'ts about it all. Don't endorse any brands should be a simple thing. Seems a bit unprofessional that kind of thing wasn't considered (In general not just formula)

Thanks for the information PrematureEjoculation, I didn't know it was actually illegal to advertise first formula. But I was aware of the WHO code and Anastaisia has it just right. He should be more clued in as a new father and potential PM.

His DP is probably giving him a good kicking over it all anyway.

As long as 'he' is not breastfeeding, I don't mind!

here is how to tell Labour how you feel about Aptamiliband.

FFS...

conserve your ire for something that really matters

like coalition cuts,job freezes,recession

a ill judged off guard commenst about whch brand formula used doesnt merit all this hulabaloo

This could be a plotline in the Thick Of It. I don't believe it was an off-guard comment but I doubt if his advisors meant him to be so obvious and mention a brand.

Did we ever find out if the Blairs' son had the combined MMR jab?

He broke the law. If he had been filmed saying he puts his child in the car without seatbelts or that they smoke in parliment it would have been the same thing. Yes the BBC are also to blame. There is a breasfeeding manifesto so therefore he is also going against Government policy. Formular milk is not normal. That is a fact. It is not said to upset anyone. Human milk is what is normal for humans not cows milk. That is normal for cows. That the majority of westeners see formular as normal is where the problem is. We are talking a public health issue and a polititian should know better.

"Did we ever find out if the Blairs' son had the combined MMR jab?"

What does this have to do with the MMR jab? The issues involved are entirely different.