[amandaleigh37]

I'm NAK and don't have it in front of me right now, but in the issue I got today (I signed up when I was pregnant 2 years ago and still get them...), there was an article by a woman who wanted to breastfeed, but ended up using formula. I searched the top and bottom margins of the pages for the word "advertisement" but didn't find anything

Basically, she started by saying how she was SO SURE she would breastfeed. She thought she was better than her pregnant friend who was planning on FF. Her son was born and nursed perfectly, but then at the doctor's she found that he had lost 12 oz (she says in the article that it's ok to lose 8oz. but not 12?? - she also doesn't state how much he weighed) - and the doctor basically told her he was starving so she gave him formula and he drank it so fast!

She said she tried pumping and was disappointed beacuse she didn't get much, so eventually stopped. It was also "easier" to have her husband do the night feedings that way.

The article ended with her saying that she was glad she kept the samples of formula that she considered giving her friend. And of course, that NOT everyone can breastfeed.

I was very disappointed to read this. There was very little factual or helpful information, and just loads of reasons to make pregnant or new moms feel doubtful of their ability to breastfeed. Especially since the mom in the article said that everything was great at first, he was latching great and no pain at all, until her son was weighed and the doctor was "alarmed". Way to scare the pants off of new moms, Babytalk!

 

[MKJA]

Time to send a letter to the editor perhaps?

 

[MamaBear1976]

Quote:

Originally Posted by amandaleigh37 I'm NAK and don't have it in front of me right now, but in the issue I got today (I signed up when I was pregnant 2 years ago and still get them...), there was an article by a woman who wanted to breastfeed, but ended up using formula. I searched the top and bottom margins of the pages for the word "advertisement" but didn't find anything Basically, she started by saying how she was SO SURE she would breastfeed. She thought she was better than her pregnant friend who was planning on FF. Her son was born and nursed perfectly, but then at the doctor's she found that he had lost 12 oz (she says in the article that it's ok to lose 8oz. but not 12?? - she also doesn't state how much he weighed) - and the doctor basically told her he was starving so she gave him formula and he drank it so fast! She said she tried pumping and was disappointed beacuse she didn't get much, so eventually stopped. It was also "easier" to have her husband do the night feedings that way. The article ended with her saying that she was glad she kept the samples of formula that she considered giving her friend. And of course, that NOT everyone can breastfeed. I was very disappointed to read this. There was very little factual or helpful information, and just loads of reasons to make pregnant or new moms feel doubtful of their ability to breastfeed. Especially since the mom in the article said that everything was great at first, he was latching great and no pain at all, until her son was weighed and the doctor was "alarmed". Way to scare the pants off of new moms, Babytalk!

Man, that one is a tough call... I can totally see that being written by a real woman, but at the same time, I can also see it being written by someone being paid to write it...

Let's give the story the benefit of the doubt. Suppose it was a real woman who wrote it (probably many women have been in very similar situations)... Obviously you and I know (or have figured out) that the real reason why so many women don't succeed at breastfeeding is mainly because society does not understand how to properly support them... But she may feel like she failed because of something she did wrong (and I truly believe women do the best they can with the information/support they have). She may feel resentment toward those who have succeeded??? And this is precisely who the formula manufacturers want to market to... Their goal is to drive a wedge between women who formula-feed (for whatever reason) and those who breastfeed. They want to divide all of us so that it's easier to overwhelm us (this is the Machiavellian way: "Divide and conquer"). We need to be better than that. United we are so much stronger.

So: how can we convince women who have lived through her experience to see the value of lactivism? It's very tricky, but it can be done. It's really important not to alienate those who use formula (I'm one of those moms who has to), but it's also important to remain firm about breastfeeding being the biological norm...

Tricky, tricky...

 

[krystyn33]

Quote:

Originally Posted by MamaBear1976 So: how can we convince women who have lived through her experience to see the value of lactivism? It's very tricky, but it can be done. It's really important not to alienate those who use formula (I'm one of those moms who has to), but it's also important to remain firm about breastfeeding being the biological norm... Tricky, tricky...

This has been on my mind a great deal lately. How do you push for cultural change without alienating those who take cultural influence for granted? Also, how to you inform or educate people who aren't aware of their ignorance in the first place?

There's a great quote from poet Audre Lorde, "You cannot use the master's tools to dismantle the master's house." (or something very close to that) We need a new kind of strategy to overcome the obstacles to breastfeeding success, but I don't know what that is yet.

 

[JamesMama]

ITA MamaBear

I have a couple girlfriends that chose to formula feed. But one of them, K, was one of my biggest supporters when all the crap went down at my church. She didn't breastfeed herself, but God help the person that got between a woman and her right to feed her child.

I guess maybe it's getting people to look at it like that. It's not "I deserve more rights than you because I breastfeed." it's "I deserve rights because I'm feeding my baby too." Getting them to look at it as we are just feeding our baby's, just like they are.

I fully admit that MY attitude needs an adjustment just as much as anyone elses. I see a FF'ing mom often and it's all I can do not to roll my eyes or wonder WHY she's FF'ing. When it's neither my concern or my business. I guess it's a 2 way street...

 

[accountclosed3]

the problem that i have with this article is that it sets the issue out in a sort of black-and-white way: you either BF or FF. but, the truth is there are so many opportunities for women to incorporate breast milk or breast feeding into their lives, that it doesn't have to be all-or-nothing.

whether written by a "real mom" or written by an "expert" or a reporter, most of the writing demonstrates that you are either FFing or BFing. what it doesn't demonstrate is how real women who have problems with supply issues, who have work schedules that don't allow a lot of time for pumping or breastfeeding, and so on, create opportunities for baby's 'gold standard food' to get into baby.

as an example, a mother who works can breast feed morning and evening, and feed formula during the day while at day care--or pump and create a 'milk bank' at home and have that milk available for use instead of formula.

for a mother with supply issues, she can offer what breastmilk she has and supplement with formula.

for a mother who wants her husband and other family members to enjoy feeding the baby, she can pump to create a home milk bank or use formula in those particular occassions.

I think that i would like to see an article that focuses on these sorts of moms. Moms who 'mix it up.' moms who do both.

i think it would encourage women to continue with breastmilk even if they've had to use formula, and this will increase the breast feeding culture.

aynway, just an idea.

 

[~pi]

Oh, that's sad.

Wasn't BabyTalk the magazine that caused all the furor with the cover showing a breast and a baby latched on? (I don't think we get that magazine here in Canada, so I'm not sure.)

ETA: Yes, it was: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14065706/

I think zoebird's idea is great, and maybe a letter to the editor could mention that idea of an article -- bridging the divide, as it were, between moms who breastfeed and moms who ff. If you look at the stats in the US, there are lots of babies who are getting at least some breastmilk, and I think those moms should be applauded and encouraged.

 

[prettymom]

I think it is sad that the article didn't at least have a side bar or mention how to get help with breastfeeding. Maybe she needed another voice reassuring her that her son was okay. Or maybe he wasn't getting enough milk, and she needed a lactation consultant to teach her about feeding on demand. It's awful that they printed an article about quitting at the first hiccup.

 

[boobs4milk]

i've seen that happen. yes, babies who have been bf for any amount of time will gulp down a bottle of formula because they are used to working for their food. bottles let the food pour out, and it appears that 'starving bf baby' is gulping down his formula because he's being denied food by the struggling bf mama.

i've failed at bf 3 times in the past, twice with established nursers, once EP'ing for a preemie. i only wish i'd had someone give me information on how to keep bf through challenges. i think the message in the article is that you don't have to bf to be the best mom you can be, but i sincerely wish that people were given the correct information before they simply give up.

my dd was 5.1lbs at birth and lost down to 4.10lbs. that's a loss of 7 oz, or about 9% of her total body weight. she didn't rebound to her birth weight until she was 12 days old. i was pressured right and left to supplement, but i knew about the growth patterns of bf babies. she was almost 15 lbs @ 4 mos. i think people also put too much emphasis on the weight gain/loss factor. if the woman's son in that article lost 12 oz, but was born weighing 9lbs, then he only lost 9% of his birthweight, as well...

 

[MamaBear1976]

Quote:

Originally Posted by krystyn33 This has been on my mind a great deal lately. How do you push for cultural change without alienating those who take cultural influence for granted? Also, how to you inform or educate people who aren't aware of their ignorance in the first place? There's a great quote from poet Audre Lorde, "You cannot use the master's tools to dismantle the master's house." (or something very close to that) We need a new kind of strategy to overcome the obstacles to breastfeeding success, but I don't know what that is yet.

I think it involves unity and love.

And I am not joking about that. It's not an empty sentiment. I believe it with everything inside me. The only way to bypass all the lies is with unity among all mothers. Make a connection before judging (in fact, don't judge moms at all no matter what their feeding choices -- because the truth is you don't know what they've gone through to arrive at them). Make a connection and educate in the most gentle and powerful way there is: by example.

 

[amandaleigh37]

I'm sure the mom who wrote this was sincere, and no I don't believe she should feel like a failure because she encountered problems and perhaps didn't have access to a solution that might have helped her continue breastfeeding... it just made me really sad because if a pregnant mom was reading this, it would just give her a reason to doubt breastfeeding. Not to say the article shouldn't be published, but I sure wish they would have included at least a sidebar or something - with the toll free LLL number, or some other resources.... anything... but they didn't. It was just another article that made breastfeeding seem like some unattainable perfection that is not realistic for most moms. And that's just not true

 

[kikidee]

Hmmm.

I am probably going to get flamed for this, but I think it's okay that they published this w/o a sidebar. This is that woman's story, and she had a right to share it without any additional notes from the editors. I'm sure it struck a chord with mothers out there who for whatever reason ended up formula feeding. By putting a sidebar on it, it would have taken away from that. I think the point of the article was just to share a story.

I understand where people are coming from, with worrying about new mothers, but I really doubt that one personal story in a magazine is going to convince a new mother that she should formula feed.

Now, if it were more of a "reporting" story with statistics about how many women end up formula feeding, or something like that, then I would fully expect that they would include breastfeeding resources to assist moms in getting all the help they need.

That's just my humble opinion.

 

[MamaBear1976]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kikidee Hmmm. I am probably going to get flamed for this, but I think it's okay that they published this w/o a sidebar. This is that woman's story, and she had a right to share it without any additional notes from the editors. I'm sure it struck a chord with mothers out there who for whatever reason ended up formula feeding. By putting a sidebar on it, it would have taken away from that. I think the point of the article was just to share a story. I understand where people are coming from, with worrying about new mothers, but I really doubt that one personal story in a magazine is going to convince a new mother that she should formula feed. Now, if it were more of a "reporting" story with statistics about how many women end up formula feeding, or something like that, then I would fully expect that they would include breastfeeding resources to assist moms in getting all the help they need. That's just my humble opinion.

I'm not flaming you.

 

[tashantx]

sorry didn't read all the comments so it may have allready been said I couldn't find the story '' in a hurry ''' in oct 07 issue anyway at the back in the your body section they give some wonder ful (gag) advice on how to dry the breasts up hmmmm I'm going to go find that article and find time to write the editor!!

: I looked again and still can't find it ..... am I not seeing it what page if you know?

 

[bobbirs]

maybe I should write my story for that mag...I gave up at 3 weeks b/c I had NO milk a very sick baby and a TON of stress....then at 4 mo I decided to re-lactate. and I would like to urge moms not to give up because it can work...

 

[tashantx]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobbirs maybe I should write my story for that mag...I gave up at 3 weeks b/c I had NO milk a very sick baby and a TON of stress....then at 4 mo I decided to re-lactate. and I would like to urge moms not to give up because it can work...

heck yeah!

 

[kikidee]

That would be a GREAT story!!!

 

[MamaBear1976]

Quote:

Originally Posted by bobbirs maybe I should write my story for that mag...I gave up at 3 weeks b/c I had NO milk a very sick baby and a TON of stress....then at 4 mo I decided to re-lactate. and I would like to urge moms not to give up because it can work...

Right on!

I think that's a fantastic idea.

 

[amandaleigh37]

Quote:

I understand where people are coming from, with worrying about new mothers, but I really doubt that one personal story in a magazine is going to convince a new mother that she should formula feed.

One article probably isn't, but when magazines like this only mention breastfeeding in a way that makes it seem unrealistic for most moms, it definitely contributes to the way women see it. I wouldn't have so much of a problem if they have GOOD breastfeeding info/articles too... but I never see those

Plus, isn't one of the key things that new moms should do is AVOID KEEPING FORMULA SAMPLES. Hasn't it been proven that by just HAVING them, you are setting yourself up to use them? This article basically tells readers to keep the samples because "many" of them will need them. And after all, they are expensive.

 

[kikidee]

I recant my earlier statements. I found out in another thread that this article was smack dab in the middle of two formula ads. That's a bit of a coincidence.

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