Baby Talk Magazine ... Go figure!

[Soxfan Mom]

I don't see a thread on this yet ... hope I didn't just miss it. Anyway, I happened to catch part of "Good Morning America" Tuesday, which had a predictable NIP story. However, Baby Talk executive editor Susan Kane was on and to my delight, she is a real lactivist. The cover of the upcoming August issue looks like it could be a past cover of Mothering: baby at the breast. No nipple visible, but still a giant step for a mainstream publication.

There was a "man on the street" segment in which this awful woman said basically that nursing was gross and women should stay home to feed the babies. Susan Kane was in studio, and boy did she tear that woman's opinions to shreds in a very eloquent way. It was very refreshing.

[bri276]

hmm. don't they have formula ads in there though?

[jmom713]

Our local news station (Phoenix) aired the segment during our prime time evening news. I forget who, but someone basically said that she does not feel she should have to see women nursing in public and then Susan Kane did a number on them. They showed a lot of the same nursing clips that aired on the 20/20 special friday night in addition to the babytalk cover. What i thought was great is that the local newscaster did a wrap up summarizing that many states have laws protecting nursing moms, it's a shame that we have to and that Arizona has this law.

Jen

[dshields]

Ah, so that explains why my local news station is covering NIP tonight and asking viewers to vote whether or not they think that it is appropriate. After I voted it showed 53% apppropriate 47% not.

http://www.wggb.com/qod.shtml

[jarynsmom06]

bri:

I don't mean to sound ill toward you but it seems as though every time someone post something positive on here about something mainstream, magazines ect. someone always finds something negative to say. Yes they have formula adds, but as you know some women are not able to bf or they have to suppliment and they usually do it with formula. I just wish everyone wasn't so negative all the time....


Proud Mommy to Jaryn 4-16-06 :

[ollineeba]

Sounds like they've made a lot of progress
That's great!

[Momtwice]

Originally Posted by jarynsmom06

Yes they have formula adds, but as you know some women are not able to bf or they have to suppliment and they usually do it with formula. I just wish everyone wasn't so negative all the time....

I hear you, but I wish Baby Talk didn't have a long history of inaccurate breastfeeding articles! I'm really surprised they had such a pro-bf staff person. THis is progress!

And I agree with the World Health Organization, UNICEF, and American medical organizations who have begged the formula companies not to advertise formula because studies show that these ads do sway those moms who are deciding how to feed their babies toward formula feeding. The ads are not innocent and they do not just end up in the hands of moms who have no choice but to formula feed. But the magazines aren't going to bite the hands that feed them.

I won't buy parenting magazines anymore if they have formula ads. I used to but I won't anymore.

Mothering doesn't.

[LeslieB]

I was just coming in to post about the cover as well. Beautiful picture!
If you haven't seen it, here's the link: Baby Talk Cover.

[edswife]

Originally Posted by LeslieB

I was just coming in to post about the cover as well. Beautiful picture!
If you haven't seen it, here's the link: Baby Talk Cover.

And here is a quote from the article-
"But don't beat yourself up if it doesn't work out, says breastfeeding expert Marianne Neifert, M.D. "Success isn't always related to the amount of effort a mom puts in."

In EVERY article I've ever read in a mainstream pareanting magzine I read the above statement. "We'd really like to appear pro BFing but don't want to piss anyone off so we'll tell them BF is great but if you don't no worries."
The picture is wonderful but as usual the article inside is lacking.

[RidentMama]

If you read the article, they actually have a link to respond to the cover...I would encourage everyone to give them some positive feedback!

email: [e-mail]
Re: Breastfeeding August 2006 cover

[NCMommax2]

Originally Posted by RidentMama

If you read the article, they actually have a link to respond to the cover...I would encourage everyone to give them some positive feedback!

email: [e-mail]
Re: Breastfeeding August 2006 cover

I already did!

[Arwyn]

On the one hand - absolutely GORGEOUS picture! Very beautiful.

On the other - Why, when mainstream mags display breastfeeding, does it seem like everyone's completely naked? And that the only part of the mom one sees is her breast? Sure, it's a beautiful, lovely picture, and maybe it will help some people see the beauty of breastfeeding, but it also encourages the idea that breastfeeding = naked = indecent. And that's part of "why women don't nurse longer".

Still, kudos to Baby Talk, a mainstream mag, for putting a really beautiful nursing photo on their cover. We'll work on the rest of it (the out-and-about action shots, the ethnic diversity, the lack of violation of WHO codes) later. First thing is just getting them willing to talk about, and show, nursing in an even semi-positive light, which they've done.

[Millie Ivy]

So did I! It was a little less truthful, as I didn't go into what I felt the article lacked. But I have found the more sugar coated the better in the letters I write. Maybe just enough letters with a criticism will help out!

This is what I wrote if anyone cares (I am not the best at these things, but I am trying to start writing more to things I think are inportant!)

I absolutely loved your cover! I am one of the "breastfeeding radicals" I guess, in that I breastfed each of my kids until around their third birthday. I don't feel all that radical though! I just feel like I did one more good thing to help get my kids off to a good start in life. I am passionate about "spreading the word" so to speak, regarding breastfeeding, breastfeeding rights, and creating a generation of confident, comfortable nursing mama's.

So kudos to you for the cover, and the positive breastfeeding story. My only gently spoken criticism would be the contradiction one sees when they open your magazine and see the ads for formula strewn throughout. While I know that in *some* cases, formula may be necessary, these ads do sway alot of new moms to feel that it isn't worth the trouble to try to fight any obstacles they come across when beginning their breastfeeding "career". A mom that needs formula will have ample information from her doctor, without the ads. (I also understand that these ads help you as a magazine financially, but when will we all decide who is more important?)

Just my thanks, kudos, and two cents.

Shelley
[e-mail]
www.naturabellafamily.com

~For your Natural Lifestyle~

[comfybuns]

I got mine today in the mail and thought it was great. They also added little breastfeeding icons throughout the magazine that tell when an article has bf info.

[Peppamint]

Originally Posted by Bella Babe

So did I! It was a little less truthful, as I didn't go into what I felt the article lacked. But I have found the more sugar coated the better in the letters I write. Maybe just enough letters with a criticism will help out!

This is what I wrote if anyone cares (I am not the best at these things, but I am trying to start writing more to things I think are inportant!)

I absolutely loved your cover! I am one of the "breastfeeding radicals" I guess, in that I breastfed each of my kids until around their third birthday. I don't feel all that radical though! I just feel like I did one more good thing to help get my kids off to a good start in life. I am passionate about "spreading the word" so to speak, regarding breastfeeding, breastfeeding rights, and creating a generation of confident, comfortable nursing mama's.

So kudos to you for the cover, and the positive breastfeeding story. My only gently spoken criticism would be the contradiction one sees when they open your magazine and see the ads for formula strewn throughout. While I know that in *some* cases, formula may be necessary, these ads do sway alot of new moms to feel that it isn't worth the trouble to try to fight any obstacles they come across when beginning their breastfeeding "career". A mom that needs formula will have ample information from her doctor, without the ads. (I also understand that these ads help you as a magazine financially, but when will we all decide who is more important?)

Just my thanks, kudos, and two cents.

Shelley
[e-mail]
www.naturabellafamily.com

~For your Natural Lifestyle~

fabulous letter!

I thought the cover was pretty nice.

[joyfilledmomma]

I will say that I for one was thrilled to get my copy of Baby Talk in the mail today. My husband (who loves all things free) signed me up for Baby Talk toward the end of my pregnancy. When my copy of Mothering came last month he was like "what's up with the nudity (aka:nursing momma) on the cover." He calls Mothering my "hippie momma magazine." Don't get me wrong...he's all for breastfeeding (it's free of course ), but he's a part of the group that would prefer not to see it in public and he gets all squeamish when I NIP...shame on him! I left the issue of Baby Talk prominently displayed on the dining room table...I can't wait to see what his response is to the "nudity", as he calls it, in a mainstream magazine...so in spite of formula ads, etc this month I give Baby Talk a big !

[Soxfan Mom]

I like your letter, Shelley.

While everyone is checking out the link for the photo of the cover, see the list of stories in the issue. One is about money-saving tips. There are several about how to find cheaper formula, but one mom just writes: "Breastfeeding saves money." Simple as that, I think her one tip may win over a lot of expectant mothers.

I do wish these magazines wouldn't run formula ads. I always rip them out before I donate my old issues at the library.

[bri276]

Originally Posted by jarynsmom06

bri:

I don't mean to sound ill toward you but it seems as though every time someone post something positive on here about something mainstream, magazines ect. someone always finds something negative to say. Yes they have formula adds, but as you know some women are not able to bf or they have to suppliment and they usually do it with formula. I just wish everyone wasn't so negative all the time....


Proud Mommy to Jaryn 4-16-06 :

gee, that's an awfully presumptuous post from someone who has only been a member for two months, considering I've been a member for almost a year and a half. I wonder how you could have seen so many of my posts in such a short time. and I wonder if you have any idea of the bf'ing challenge's I've faced. In fact, I usually end up sticking up for the low supply mamas who need to supplement. considering I walked the line of being one every day for a year. I have no idea where your judgment of me is coming from. maybe you have me confused with someone else.

especially since my comment was a real honest question. I don't often read that magazine and I simply asked if they advertise for formula. sorry but I don't think that having an article that says "NIP is great, bf'ing is great!" and then you turn the page and there's a Similac ad- sends a really mixed message. I can't fathom why my simple question prompted such a weird response! you don't know me mama, if you took the time to you'd know very well that I"m not "negative all the time", far from it.

[schmaela]

Does Babytalk usually come in the mail with a "cover" on it? I just got this issue (have no idea who signed me up) and it had a kind of cover over the actual magazine cover. Due to mommybrain I wasn't sure if this is how Babytalk always sends out their mag.

The actual cover is great!

[annettemarie]

I'm glad to see Baby Talk is taking steps towards promoting breastfeeding. They are very much in the pockets of the formula companies (as a "free" magazine, it is pretty much the advertisers who foot the entire bill, and there is not a doubt in my mind that the advertisers, in turn, influence content. And no one makes money from breastfeeding) but maybe they are turning over a new leaf? One can hope...