Breastfeeding Uncovered

[tuckingfypo]

Is anyone else watching?

@MargaretDribble that was me the first time round with my pinny. Thank god the second time round I don't give a damn and feed wherever I need to

I did accidentally flash a man quite a lot of boob in an ice cream shop on Saturday...he didn't keel over and die at the sight of my nipple so I think he'll survive the shock

The support there 16 years ago has greatly reduced I formula fed my first, really battled with my 2nd then it was straightforward with the next. I really hope that I'm able to help my DDs if they have DC and choose to BF - I had no one to ask, certainly no/one in the middle of the night or to come and make sure I was fed and knew it was ok to live on the sofa when a feed a thon was happening!

I bf all of my dc

Dd2 never had a drop of formula and wa aged home made organic food.
Didn’t stop her getting type 1 diabetes

*was given

I just watched it and not sure what I thought. The bit towards the end where people were criticising her feeding in public seemed so contrived - she had a film crew in tow, of course people were staring! I've breastfed all over the place and no one has ever batted an eyelid (unlike when I gave my baby a bottle, then I got the criticism). And why the bit about Parliament? Surely if you're there you're working and your baby won't be with you?!

Would have been good to hear more about why it's so difficult. Good they acknowledged it's crazy pushing women to breastfeed then fail to provide support for them. Also annoyed about the women talking about formula being pushed on them, with no acknowledgment that some babies need formula. And no mention whatsoever about combi feeding.

Overall it didn't seem very balanced - lots about the pros of breastfeeding but the only cons were ones that seemed contrived (the public criticism). I was also annoyed by the bit about misleading claims about formula, when I was told a whole lot of misleading rubbish about breastfeeding in advance!

endoftether82 did you not see the part where she was clearly in pain, said her boy had TT and was pumping to give her shredded nipples a break?

I think it very carefully gave the facts of what’s in breast milk and formula with the point that choice should be made fully informed not from marketing.

When the cameras were clearly very far away from her you could still see plenty of looks going her way.

The truth is there are many women who want to bf but can’t due to many reasons and lack support to overcome them.

It was way too short! Each little aspect, formula advertising, breastfeeding support (or lack of), the realities of breastfeeding (like pain), public breastfeeding, they could have all been an episode on their own!

If I had been pregnant and seen this programme I would have been even more nervous about feeding outside the house - which is ridiculous because nobody has said anything particularly bad to me! And I think it was edited to make the public views negative, like that girl who said it was gross, I kind of got the impression she was talking about breastfeeding herself, not seeing others do it.

I did find the programme hard to watch, not being able to bf my DC, I did express for ds with an electric pump for 9 months. The presenter talking about how hard bf can be, whilst happily feeding hers without an issue. I hate this distain for formula, tgat somehow it is seen as baby junk food, instead of an alternate source of nourishment. Without it, if mothers are not able to bf, babies die. So what would they rather, the total wipe out of formula. Right, that's not going to happen. I think most people know where tgey can access formula, unlike donor breastmilk, it us easily accessible, and usually safe. With donor breastmilk bought online, there are no safety checks for disease. I would not be happy giving untested milk to my child, despite it being breastmilk.

I thought it was good to see such a high profile program mentioning the really shocking state of breastfeeding support in this country.

I think it would be good to see a some comparison of different countries.

I also thought the bit where people were allegedly "staring" at her breastfeeding in the town centre was - people were probably just having a better look, thinking to themselves: "Ooh, isn't that thing of that telly programme with wotshisname."

It was quite a disappointing and patronising prog to say this was Channel 4's flagship investigative documentary "Dispatches." It looked more like something they'd do on "The One Show."

I had no issue breastfeeding outside the home. I didn’t do it totally in public til dd was about a month old but I never got a bad look or word. I was subtle though.
I couldn’t feed ds - no way was he ever going to latch on. I just about managed to express for a week but I still feel guilty and he’s 14 years old now!!!

This is the same as always.

Why don’t people bf?

People should be educated about the pro’s of bf

There should be more support for new mums

As soon as a bf programme is on it makes Mums who ff feel guilty and get defensive.

Then the conversation stops and nothing gets done to help the situation.

Repeat from the beginning

Bit late to the convo but I thought it was a shame she focused so much on public judgement, as I bet if you surveyed new mums this wouldn't be the reason most of them didn't continue to BF.

She didn't really touch on THE PAIN. The toe curling, tear inducing pain that some experience. Every time I had to feed my first 2 I'd be in tears when they latched on. Now, with DD3 I realise it really wasn't that i was 'doing it wrong'... They were tongue tied! I didn't even know this was a thing that could have such an adverse effect on BFing. DD3 is not tongue tied and BFing has been a breeze by comparison to the other DC... I was still battling bouts of mastitis and cracked sore nipples at 12 weeks!

Also... Re 'subtle' feeding... I have found in this hot weather I am not covering myself or my baby with a muslin. It is too hot and uncomfortable for us both. I think the problem would really lie with anyone who balks at this vision!

I am not an exhibitionist and I have been thinking about why I've never felt shy or awkward to feed in public. I don't really know why, I guess it's a facet of one's personality. No issues with either attitude, but a programme like this one perpetuates the message that you will get stared at, your boob will be on show, people will make negative comments... When the reality isnt that at all

@LittleWingSoul I had the awful pain (nipples on fire, anyone?) with my first, it turned out she wasn't sucking correctly!

I also had pain (which wasn't quite as bad as the first time round) which I think was just normal for some people. It wasn't caused by anything and after using nipple cream it went away!

If I wasn't so pig headed I would have given up BF my first due to the horrific pain, and I would never have considered BF my second.

I also agree with you RE covering up. With my first I wore something called a "Bebe au lait" which drew attention to the fact I was feeding.

I see some BF mum's who pull their top down and a lot of their breast is exposed (although you can't see the nipple, so really you're not seeing more than you would see compared to someone wearing a low cut top) but I find it easier pulling my top up (sometimes I wear a vest top underneath to pull down just to keep my tummy covered, other times I don't need to because my top is baggy) and to be honest, you can't see any flesh unless you are right next to me. Most people walking past me probably wouldn't even know I was feeding!