Infant Formula Legislation

Replies

• oscar2

  Mar 13, 2012 7:57AM

  hi annie
  
  
  
  i agree the pressure to breast feed can be immense. i work helping women feed their babies and the pressure put on us to discourage formula feeding is ridiculous. Breast feeding should obviously be encouraged where possible - the evidence is overwhelming that it does mums and babies a lot of good physically - but not enough is done to prepare mums for how hard and problematic it can be, and how to deal with the disappointment if it doesnt work out. I am breast feeding my 6 month old and my whole pregnancy i daren't believe i could do it as ive seen lots of mums really want to and end up depressed. Its been hard work but i recognise ive also been one of the lucky ones.
  
  
  
  The problem with the government is that they think the way to improve breast feeding rates is to heap all this guilt onto mums without really helping them to breast feed. All the midwife led units in this country, that can give people real assistance to breast feed, are being shut down and women are forced to go home straight after birth or made to stay on crowded wards where there are no staff to help them and no opportunity for them to sleep, so most women get home as soon as they can. The government also don't encourage antenatal education - 15 mins with a midwife for an antenatal check on odd occasions throughout pregnancy is not enough time to really discuss feeding, how babies behave, how milk production works, and common problems that people face. If people were well prepared beforehand and then given really good hands on support in the first weeks this would increase breast feeding rates - instead, the government just decides to bang on all the time about how awful formula is and women are worse off - not only are they unsuccessful at breast feeding but they feel terrible about it.
  
  
  
  I had issues with soreness in the first few days and i knew i wasnt going to be able to carry on. It wasnt that i didnt want to. I remember looking at my sleeping son not wanting him to wake up and feeling guilty about that. I also felt no one was listening - people kept telling me to grin and bare it and i felt id be a bad mum if i couldnt - but there's only so long you can allow a little person to chew your nipple off! Then we started using a nipple shield and i really felt thats when my son and i properly bonded and i felt i just might pull the feeding off. Then at two weeks the health visitor came to visit and slated me, saying that nipple shields reduce supply and that id be feeding all the time and wouldnt keep it up. I was hormonal and fragile and felt thrown. I tried for 2 days without it and ended up so sore again. I just knew i had no choice but to use it and feed for however long we could, or give up altogether.
  
  
  
  At times LO fed hourly over the first few months - but sometimes this happens anyway with breast feeding babies so hard to say if it was the shield. My LO is six and a half months, i breast fed him exclusively for 6 months and now he's on 3 meals a day and i know because of the shield we'll make it as long as we want to keep doing it.
  
  
  
  I feel really angry because the government has decided nipple shields are a no no and shouldnt even be suggested to women struggleing with breast feeding - why, when they've enabled my son to be breast fed all these months!!
  
  
  
  The way they dictate and patronise women and then guilt trip them makes me cross. We all need good information, good support, and good preparation and counselling for how to deal with problems and disappointment if it doesnt work out. And sometimes despite doing all the right things - breast feeding isnt possible, and thats where formula is a wonderful thing.x

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• Cas1980

  Mar 13, 2012 2:59PM

  My second son was born at 36 weeks in January and spent 4 week son the neonatal unit at the hospital. I struggled to breastfeed my first son and had very little support - i was very naive and thought bf-ing was easy - so was determined to bf this time.However as my son was in an incubator for the first two weeks, bf-ing was impossible but Idid manage to express for the first 6 weeks and he was also topped up with formula. Due to all the drama and stress we incurred in those first few weeks, I am now seeing a counsellor and being treated for pnd and one of the things that really gets me down is not being able to bf. Even though I know the decision was completely taken out of my hands and Idid the best thing I could in the situation, to express, Istill feel really really guilty.
  
  
  
  We have an outreach nurse come to us once a week to weigh the baby and do blood tests and check on how we're coping. I was speaking to her last week about feeding and she told me that formula companies are not allowed to advertise baby milk so instead advertise toddler/follow on milk. I've never noticed before but the ones I've seen since say 'breastfeeding is best, but when you decide to move on.....!' We were also discussing different types of formula and she said she wasn't allowed to recommend a type, surely in our situation she should be able to. When my son was in hospital i was told by a nurse that many of the neonatal nurses choose not to breastfeed as they recognise how hard it is and the benefits of choosing formula.
  
  
  
  The government really needs to open their eyes and realise that many women who don't breastfeed dont necessarily choose to, but even if they do, so what, its our choice and its not like we're feeding them heroin!! My nurse said that formula is probably better for my son because of all the added vitamins and nutrients, plus the fact you know exactly how much they're getting!

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• GlitterBug09

  Mar 13, 2012 4:15PM

  Hey Cas, my midwife broke the rules and told me that all of the formulas are so similar now there is very little difference between them. We went for Hipps Organic because it was organic and, according to some other mums I spoke to, the closest to breastmilk. I can not imagine the trauma of having a baby in an incubator for two weeks, you have done brilliantly not to crumble under the strain. I didnt produce milk and sobbed because my body wouldn't do what it was made to do, but 7 months down the line I have finally forgiven myself. My daughter is healthy, happy and gorgeous because I made the right decision to give her formula so that she could thrive. If I would have carried on with trying to will my boobs to produce milk im certain she would have dropped more than 2 centiles xx

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• Cas1980

  Mar 22, 2012 6:48AM

  Thanks glitterbug, I still feel guilty that I couldn't breastfeed my first son and was cross that I hadn't prepared myself more. I also don't think it helps that most of my friends, including one of my best friends, who have recently had babies all conquered bf-ing and seemed to find it so easy so I feel even more of a failure as I can't understand why they can do it and I couldn't!
  
  
  
  BUT my counsellor and nurse are helping me to see that both my babies are (now) healthy and that I'm the only one holding it against me!
  
  
  
  I just wish people would stop asking me if I bf, why i'm not bf-ing, looking at me strangely when I produce a bottle in public places rather than getting a boob out!Or maybe I'm just being paranoid!!

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• oscar2

  Mar 22, 2012 6:13PM

  oh cas and glitterbug so sorry you both had such a tough time - sounds like you love your bubbas more than anything and did all you could. Sometimes through loving them you have to make tough choices - like glitterbug says it was a choice she needed to make to keep her LO well.
  
  
  
  cas, sorry you feel rubbish in public. I have to say as a breast feeding mum i get some strange looks too, some terrified looks, and some disapproving looks. it isnt as if i walk round with them both on show (lol) but i have found it surprising how many people see breast feeding as abnormal. I even saw loose women the other day where they discussed it and said breast feeding women should either time their feeds to time in with being at home or express and feed by bottle while out! Clearly none of them have ever breast fed!
  
  
  
  xxx

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• piggypops

  Mar 24, 2012 5:46PM

  i couldnt breastfeed my first child due to many reasons, the major factor was the lack of support/teaching. i am still BF my 8 month old as this time i recieved the support every new mum deserves,
  
  
  
  persoanlly i think the major problem is that bf isnt seen as normal, there is a severe lack of education and support and it is not made clear how difficult it is at first. its made out to be this easy natural thing which it can be for many but only after both of you have learned how to do it which is no easy task.
  
  
  
  not being able to BF my first left me with a lot of regret but thats all mine and noone else made me feel this way. i acctually have recieved more negativity for breastfeeding but like every mother its my choice
  
  
  
  i dont think legislation is needed at all tbh, do we really need everything written down? to be told how to feed our babies? persoanlly i think if bf education was improved it would not matter if formula was advertised, as a woman could make an informed decision instead of being pressured either way,

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• Br2B

  Mar 25, 2012 5:43PM

  I think there is far too much pressure on women to breast feed. Of course it should be encouraged where possible, but as others have said, there are many women who cannot breast feed for a whole variety of reasons.
  
  
  
  I breastfed my son for 4 days after his birth and didn't receive much support. One breast feeding support worker left me sat in the chair by my hospital bed, with a screaming baby, crying because I couldn't get him to latch on after 20 mins of trying. She said 'I'll be back in a minute' and never reappeared!
  
  
  
  After our first night at home we switched to bottle feeding as my baby was almost constantly feeding and myself and my hubby felt that the benefits of switching were worth it. It was the best decision I have made since having my son. I immediately felt a huge weight lifted and got some sleep for the first time in a few days.
  
  
  
  Now my husband and my Mum can help out much more with my son and he is such a contented baby - he sleeps for so much longer on formula too.
  
  
  
  Whilst I recognise that breast milk has massive benefits, there are good things about formula feeding too. I think that these should be accurately represented and that no woman should ever be made to feel guilty for not breastfeeding for ANY reason.

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