Chestfeeding/breastfeeding infographic

[MilkSpill]

This has pushed me over the edge today. I'm not sure where it originated but it was shared by The Milk Meg on FB.

The chest feeding stuff really bothers me. It's not just women being erased, now it's babies too. Breastfeeding is not a performance to validate parental gender dysphoria. It's a human right of infants and women, which is systemically denied or used as a weapon against us. I'm not sure if I'm angrier at the TRA pushing this rubbish, or the women's advocates who are embracing it.

And the milk meg rocks up with the be nice comment
Women be nice
Don't disagree
Don't say no
Etc

What a load of absolute BOLLOCKS.

Very strange campaign imo.
I wonder if the point is as there are far more trans parents in society now, they want to encourage them to breastfeed (people are always pushing breast is best) perhaps trans men (as in F-M) weren’t breastfeeding as they didn’t like ‘breasts’ so are trying to make it inclusive to ensure all that are able to bf do so?
Does anyone know more on induced lactation, is this a thing? I think it sounds fab if adopted mums can do it, but can men? (Natal men)

susj

Abso-bloody-lutely!

Yep and the Milk Meg comment 'just be nice ok'?

Women: never question, never engage your critical brain, never speak out against something that makes you uncomfortable, never say no. If you don't want to toe the line, just say nothing at all. Just be nice OK?

Fuck off.

I don't understand the 'chestfeeding' thing?

Is it because trans men find the word 'breast' too triggering? Even when they are using their own breasts to feed their child? How can people be ok with this utter denial of reality? If you are comfortable enough with your female body to go through pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding then you are comfortable enough with the word 'breast'.

I agree 'chest' isn't the right word here at all, you don't feed from your chest!

Does anyone know more on induced lactation, is this a thing? I think it sounds fab if adopted mums can do it, but can men? (Natal men)

Yes it’s possible for women. Adoptive mothers can do it, It isn’t easy and it’s rare to be able to produce enough to feed the baby exclusively, but it can be done without drugs, and with stimulus (pumping and feeding.) some use hormones like the pill plus domperidone, which increases prolactin levels, but prescription varies between countries.

Men can lactate and lactation in men is observed generally as part of illness that increased their prolactin levels (some psychiatric drugs like antipsychotics can have the side effect of high prolactin for example.) to produce enough in a male you need drug stimulus and then of course you’d have that drug in the milk - most drugs pass into milk. You’d not be able to produce much, certainly not enough to feed a baby and I don’t think there’s any work done on the milk itself, ie the safety of it.

but why?

Bowlofbabelfish Thank you that’s really interesting eyes up DH’s nipples and bottle refusing DS

I mean, just having read the pain relief thread about the agony women are expected to put up with on a couple of paracetamol where men would be dosed to the eyeballs - maybe gender neutral language would improve the way women are treated within the healthcare system?
Just throwing that out there

Why?

For men? Validation. Colonisation of women’s identity. Refusal to accept that biology exists and that they just cannot do some of the things women do?

We aren’t dealing with the rational or the child centred here that’s for sure.

Ha! I’ve suffered so much with both pregnancies (HG and SPD) and often tell DH I wish he could experience it just for a day.

He looks terrified and says no thanks (and is endlessly sympathetic, helpful and appreciative.)

This makes me quite angry. I gestated my babies and gave birth to them and tried hard to establish breastfeeding, but couldn't. Yet any literal Tom Dick and Harry can, according to this, just rock up and be handed all the tools to develop a milk supply. Where the fuck was that option when I was sobbing in a room alone with shredded nipples and a dehydrated infant?

Sorry but

Be nice? MN has literally thousands of posts which demonstrate how 'nice' society is to breastfeeding mothers.

Not to mention the opprobrium heaped upon women who wanted to breastfeed and couldn't, or who who were prevented from breastfeeding because of poor support.

Or who chose not to breastfeed and will now be faced with 'why not? Even a man can breastfeed. Nothing to it'.

LaContessa

La contessa that's a good point. I only managed to get over horrendous problems with my first when I found an amazing NHS breast feeding counsellor who had a cancellation and could see me in time. Second time round that role had been cut from local provision.

The world is really messed up when two dads are supposedly able to breastfeed their infant, yet new mothers who are struggling to do the same have nowhere near the level of support needed to be successful!

That’s exactly it la contessa. There’s no place for resources to be spent on inclusivity when those designed to breastfeed aren’t being supported to breastfeed.

I also don’t think there’s any place for men to be given drugs to induce lactation when there’s no research into the safety of doing so and given the ethical limitations of such research it will probably never happen.

The whole thing is ludicrous.

The more I think about this the more I despair. When did people males become unable to accept the natural limitations on options available to them?

This isn't inclusivity. Inclusivity would mean making sure that all mothers who choose breastfeeding have access to excellent support. Poor mothers, knackered mothers, overwhelmed mothers, disabled mothers, mothers who don't speak English, teenage mothers, adoptive mothers. And so on.

Fuck those poor babies who would be getting high doses of COMPLETELY UNNECESSARY drugs and hormones for no other reason than to validate some selfish fucking arseholes.
Why is this not classed as child abuse?

Women are told they can't take/eat various things whilst BREASTfeeding. Men, it seems can do whatever the fuck they like.

Ready for that comet.

Men, it seems can do whatever the fuck they like.

Twas ever thus.

I'm not very brave. In most of my online spaces I am surrounded by people very much of the libfem pomo persuasion. I'm too afraid to say what I think (what I know is true!), especially as I want access to the space for support reasons - mostly around disability.

I have however, stepped up posting pictures of myself and ds breastfeeding. Indoors, outdoors, the works. I label them breastfeeding. The last one I called myself a mammal, so what it's'reducing' me to my biology, I am an animal, I have a body and I live in it! Not even any of the most hardline pomo identifarians have felt the need to make me more 'inclusive'.

I think part of the low breastfeeding rates in the UK is societal - we expect problems, and then get piss poor help for the problems, it's not seen as something bog standard, so it feels impossibly high level to maintain. I'm trying in a very small way just to normalise it. I refuse to call it anything else.

It's not just women being erased, now it's babies too. Breastfeeding is not a performance to validate parental gender dysphoria. It's a human right of infants and women, which is systemically denied or used as a weapon against us

Agree with this 100%

I am so fucking angry about this. Is it definitely real?

Women face a fucking uphill struggle to breastfeed. I know women who've failed to breastfeed and felt awful about it and wanted to and got fuck all support and there is money being spent on inducing lactation in MEN? This is PURE EVIL! The babies should come first.

About 75% of the local breastfeeding groups were shut down due to council cuts right after DD2 was born. Had to travel miles to get help. And people are spending money on THIS?

Women are told to worry about upsetting mums who can't breastfeed and formula is fine etc etc and yet there is NO MONEY AT ALL from the government put into human breastmilk sharing (which is, y'know what used to happen when women couldn't breastfeed themselves via wet nurses) and women are left to do it over the internet in facebook groups (because we're amazing) without any support at all because of the patriarchal profit driven cows milk based formula. When women like me would be happy, happy, happy to donate milk FOR FREE to the NHS. It would probably cost less overall, would be better for the babies and the mums who couldn't breastfeed wouldn't have any guilt.

But no.

Men trying to lactate is child abuse.

Women are told to stop breastfeeding when having IVF because of the unknown effects of the hormones but trying to induce lactation in men is ok? Did they look at the levels of hormones in the baby? Did they analyse the 'milk'? So unethical.

I need to go and calm down.....