Rightly or wrongly I have always found the stance of the more militant advocates of breast feeding to be a little extreme for my tastes. I've breast fed all three of my boys until they were old enough to drink cows milk (about 12 months). I didn't really think too much about it, I was lucky enough not to have too much trouble breast feeding, although the odd case of ductal thrush has meant it wasn't always easy.
I've never felt any pressure not to breast feed when out and about and have fed children various in numerous cafes, buses, parks and any other number of public spaces. I've fed them whilst walking down the road and whilst in pursuit of my other children. I've even fed during meetings with kitchen consultants, they took it in their stride. So I've never really seen the need to rush about demanding breast feeding women should be made to feel more welcome. In my experience the only time I've ever thought twice about feeding in public was in a rather chic bar. It wasn't the bar that made me feel uneasy about feeding, but the clientel; I just knew a certain type of glamorous geriatric man just wasn't going to appreciate it. I fed Sam anyway and noone gave me a second glance.
I appreciate that I have been enormously lucky in my breast feeding experience. Being well educated, middle class and in my 30s has meant that I'm surrounded by other breast feeding mothers. In these circles it is the sight of a bottle most likely to lead to a raised eyebrow.
Although never believing this to be the case across all sectors of society, I did wonder whether the constant pushing of the 'breast is best' message was a bit excessive. There are many women who would like to breast feed but for many reasons can't who don't appreciate the inferral that they are somehow depriving their baby, which during the hormanal mayhem of new motherhood can easily become yet another issue to beat yourself up about.
Then I watched the BBC3 documentary 'Is Breast Best?' last night. The actual documentary itself I found to be rather annoying, but one statistic made me sit up and pay attention.
At 5 months (which to the day is the age that Sam is now) the percentage of women still exclusively breast feeding their baby is 3%. THREE PERCENT! I couldn't believe it was that low so I checked it, UNICEF have the same figure, as do the National Office of Statistics.
Now I would expect the number of people exclusively breast feeding to be in a minority at this age. After all on top of the women who have not been able to or who have chosen not to breast feed many women are starting to think about returning to work and having to take on board the practicalities of whether they can manage to breast feeding whilst working. If I'd been asked to guess I'd have said the number would be 15% or so. But 3%? Even given the tight definition of exclusively breast feeding, I didn't think I'd be in that tiny minority of 3%. And I find that figure shockingly low. The comparable global figure is 40%.
I appreciate that the environment I'm in, the support I've been given and the education I have had have all contributed towards the decision to breast feed my babies. I know that those from more disadvantaged backgrounds (and teenagers in particular) are very unlikely to choose to breastfeed. Often they are not aware of the benefits of breast feeding and lack support in those crucial early days when breast feeding is hard. Those people campaigning to help provide information to women in order that they can make an informed decision about whether to breast feed need support, if only so that abysmal figure of 3% can grow to something vaguely acceptable.
Is it really only 3%? That is low. I was lucky with breastfeeding, Little S being 12 mths and Baby B almost 2 when I stopped. I agree that sometimes the 'Breastapo' sometimes go too far, although I am a huge advocate of breastfeeding because I enjoyed it so much. I think the low figure has a lot to do with the lack of support to new mums in the first few days and weeks. When I had B there were new Mums sat in wheelchairs with their babies waiting for beds, so they can't have been getting support with anything, let alone breastfeeding.
ReplyDeleteJust realised I've written an essay! Hope you're ok, long time no see xx
I have just posted on the same topic after watching the same programme and was also astounded to find myself in the 3%.
ReplyDeleteI remember someone on twiteer saying once that breastfedding doesnt have its own marketing budget which is so true,
I struggled for 8 weeks feeding my daughter but had fabulous support which meant I kept going and now have had 10 months of fab feeding. Sadly though this is not the case for all.
I say anything positive should be shared so hopefully that 3& can be booted to something vaguely respectful
I really agree. On the one hand we shouldn't be too religious about it but on the other, when you look at the statistics, there needs to be some serious campaigning to get the figures up.... Have a look a this for some more stats: https://apps.who.int/nut/db_bfd.htm. Sorry northernmum but 3% doesn't seem that respectable to me. I have suffered from the Breastapo (my lovely mum!) but 3% is just insane.
ReplyDeleteWow 3%? Honestly? That's mad, although when the Toddler and I were attending mummy and baby meetings we were in the minority. I can only recall 2 other breastfeeding mummies from the groups.
ReplyDeleteI think that a lot of younger mums are put off by the thought of having a baby latched on and don't even try. A few of the other women I met tried breastfeeding and didn't get on with it, but felt an immense pressure to try and continue, even though it wasn't doing their mental health any good. These mothers finally cracked and bottlefed.
Hopefully through being thoroughly informed and sharing our own stories online we can help raise that figure.
By 5 months most mothers are starting solids. Seriously. It's not surprising that it's only 3% still exclusively breastfeeding. Think how few make it through the first couple of weeks.
ReplyDeleteIt's lower than I thought but I didn't expect it to be high. Lots of people I know breastfed for three months and introduced mixed feeding after that and gradually reduced breastfeeding. I managed six months with each of mine. I honestly couldn't have done any longer. I found it such a tie and a chore and I felt I'd done my bit after 6 months. Hats off to anyone who does longer than that, you have my respect! Breastfeeding definitely suits some mothers more than others. I find it odd that there's such a push from the Government for mums to breastfeed and yet so few people do it for any length of time. Decent support in the early days of a newborn's life is crucial to success rates I think.
ReplyDeletehttp://info.babymilkaction.org/
ReplyDeleteBaby Milk Action has been fighting the companies pushing inappropriate marketing of formula milk for decades now. Unclean water supplies means that bottle-fed children are up to 25 times more likely to die as a result of diarrhoea as a result of formula feeding. Formula companies' marketing initiatives push poorer families in developing countries to spend an inappropriate portion of income on breastmilk substitution.
Around the world 1.5 million children's lives could be saved every year by reversing the push to formula feeding - reducing under-5 mortality by 13% (making a significant contribution to the UN MDG target)
(Not sure what the UK impact is, I'm afraid).
I knew the rate was low, but not that low. I believe other countries have higher rates - I wonder what the difference is in Britain?
ReplyDeleteLike you I had a (relatively) trouble-free time - I say relatively because I did struggle at first, but was determined to crack it, but I know plenty of people who found it a real struggle and I'm not sure they got the support they needed.
In the Berkshire, Hants, Surrey border area there is definitely a breast feeding marketing budget which seems to be specifically targeted to make those who can't breastfeed feel bad, or maybe it just feels that way.
ReplyDeleteNot really that surprised by the figure of 3%, I suspect the going back to work is a major factor though I know a lot of mums stop when their kids get teeth which I can understand and would probably have been a deciding factor for me.
It doesn't really surprise me. As you said, you're in a circle of mums who breast fed anyway, but a lot don't for whatever reasons. Many women need to go back to work and it's just not that easy keeping up with breast-feeding when you're having to pump your milk at work. It may be OK for executives with an office, or those lucky enough to have a special room, but for many women, it just addes to the stress. And, again, as has been mentioned, the babies at that age are starting to take solids so the milk becomes less of a lifeline.
ReplyDeleteI knew the situation in the UK was bad, but 3% seems really really low...
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad my first child was born in Australia - breastfeeding is a big thing there and midwives were so incredibly good at teaching you how to do it. They were patient, kind and not patronising... NOT something I can say about my experience with British midwives...
3% does seem low, but I would repeat the comment of liveotherwise on starting solids. The advice to wait until 6 months is quite recent and some babies do seem keen and ready earlier, quite apart from the influence of grannies surreptitiously feeding them cream off their fingers. My elder son was largely uninterested in solid food until about 7 months, but my younger one was enthusiastically slurping mashed banana from just before 5. They were both exclusively breastfed otherwise until I went back to work and they started getting small amounts of formula to supplement the pumped milk.
ReplyDeleteMy belief is that 3% is because there isn't a great deal of support outside of crisis and the early days - to carry on breastfeeding through teeth, returning to work and so on does need support and awareness of the options open to you
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, as a white middle class educated mother you make the up majority of women who will breastfeed longer
One thing that interests me is whether the 6 months message is actually undermining longer term breastfeeding rates because people only believe there is a benefit for 6 months
I think you (by which I clearly mean "I") come at this from a very special perspective if you are, as you say, 30s, educated and middle class. I'm always astonished (not disapproving, just astonished) that pretty much everyone on One Born Every Minute seems to bottle feed. I was like you. Everyone in my NCT group (marks me out as middle class straight away doesn't it?!) breastfed for at least six months, although not all exclusively because, as others have said, several of the babies were on solids by then, and some of the mums were back to work.
ReplyDeleteSo no, I don't find the 3% at six months astonishing. I find the 35% at one week and 21% at six (UNICEF stats for the UK from 2005) more astonishing. But then it worked for me - mastitis aside (and sod the cabbage leaves, I went for antibiotics every time) - I found it easy, quick, cheap and much less hassle, especially with twins, than all the sterilising and washing up and making sure the kettle was always boiled and cold...
I think, too, that the breastapo don't help, well-meaning though they may be. I have too many lovely friends who have tried and struggled and then basically been told by breast feeding "experts" that they're doing it wrong, and just given up because they felt like failures.... what is, for example, so wrong about either using nipple shields, or expressing and giving a bottle, if that's what works for you and your baby? Surely it's the milk itself that matters, not how you present it?!
I know, I couldn't believe the 3 per cent figure either. What's also interesting, in my experience anyway, are the people who find it extraordinary if you feed beyond six months. I did about eight months each time, not that excessive, and have some friends laughing at my 'earth mother' attributes.
ReplyDeleteWhen Vesna was born, the Slovene breastfeeding doctrine was that you can breastfeed exclusively until the baby is 6 months old, and then start adding solids. Since then (May 2010), the doctrine has changed, so breastfeeding exclusively "works" until the baby is 4 months old. So, no surprise here. I'm actually amazed at 3%. Vesna's doctor said I was "good" for lasting 6 months.
ReplyDeleteAt the moment, Vesna still gets breastfed, but mostly in the morning and in the evening, and she gets most of her nutrients from elsewhere. At 11 months of age.
I also think lots of mums may still be breastfeeding at 5 months but are supplementing with formula or introducing solids, hence the low figures. It would be interesting to know how many babies are getting any breastmilk at that age, rather than exclusively breastfed. I know that the WHO says babies should be exclusively breastfed till 6 months but I'm not surprised it's lower
ReplyDeleteI tried so hard to last a full six months this time, but now I regret it. Charlie really needed his solids by the five month mark. In fact, I believe he'd been ready for a couple of weeks before that. I only introduced a bottle a month later or so (I think - my memory's terrible just now). I'm surprised it's only three percent, but then I wonder how high the percentage would be if you also count the babies on some solids and breast milk only apart from that.
ReplyDeleteI think the benefits of breastfeeding are pretty widely known but the support channels for women struggling are less apparent. And while I was committed to breastfeeding and had an issue free time of it, I know many women who were made to feel failures when they struggled and didn't stick out out...a horrible stigma for a new mum to deal with. Perhaps if they had more support they might have continued...or perhaps not as I also know women that chose not to carry on breastfeeding for other personal reasons.
ReplyDeleteOf my NCT group only about 2 or 3 of us were exclusively breastfeeding at 5 months. Soon after that I introduced one formula bottle for LLC when I started work and carried on breastfeeding until just over a year (I was the only one in my group to breastfeed up to a year). In my experience, many of my friends didn't carry on exclusively breastfeeding at the 5 month mark because they were soon starting back at work and started to convert to bottle or combination feeding.
I was totally useless at breastfeeding but I gave it a go. I found that documentary fascinating. I had mixed feelings towards the teens, some of them were just ignorant but at the same time they faced a whole different set of pressures. Interesting.
ReplyDeleteWas that the bar with me? Because I was pretty impressed nobody even gave you a second look! Cx
ReplyDeleteClareybabble - I thought it was low although, as other commenters have pointed out, it may be to do with the tight definitions used and early weaning. Even so, 3%?!?!?
ReplyDeleteNorthernMum - great post from you.
Rebecca - Like other commenters, I think that the incredibly low number is, in part due to the tight definitions that they use. But I can't believe that it is so low.
DeskMonkeyMummy - It is about everyone finding out what works for them, but I worry that not enough people know the full facts to make an informed decision about what is best for them (being them and their baby).
Liveotherwise - I'd forgotten that most mothers are weaning by 5 months. Sam isn't weaned at all yet, mainly due to my inherent laziness and sloth and lack of interest in adding to my washing up pile... ;-)
Emily O - Think you are right, decent support early on is needed. When it works well it is brilliant but if there is a struggle then it is a bit brutal!
Owen - Hence the Nestle Campaign (which has caused a bit of a stir in the Mummy Blogging world recently). Should add that the UK breast feeding rates are way below developing countries (although access to clean water makes a difference). Bosnia's equivelent bf figure was something in the region of 27% compared to UKs 3%
ReplyDeleteNVG - support, especially in the early days, is emerging as a major theme for everyone.
Geeky Mummy - The issue is that the campaigns seem to be directed at the wrong people. They ought to be targetting those who don't know about the benefits of breast feeding (eg teenage Mums) rather than hitting those who would like to breast feed but can't.
Expat Mum - The breast feeding stats for earlier ages are also pretty low. I picked on the 5 month figure as Sam is that exact age and it was the one they used in the programme.
KenandDot - Excellent point. Exclusively breast fed does mean nothing but breast milk, not all milk from the breast (if that makes sense!)
MuddlingAlong - I have to say the arrival of top and bottom teeth does tend to herald the end of breast feeding for me. Wonder whether that is true about the 6 month thing. Although once breast feeding is well established surely it is easier to continue (at least early morning and last night feeds) than get involved with bottles etc?
Plan B - those were the stats I was looking at. 35% at 1 week is astonishing. Perhaps it is amazing that it is as high at 3% at 5 months given the low starting point. Good point about the experts. I got very cross with one when Sam was about 3 days old. If he'd been my first baby I would have been very unsure of myself. Luckily he was my third and I ignored her pedantic bickering...
ReplyDeleteA&U - Really?! Earth Mother? I've fed until about a year with all of mine so far, just can't be doing with all that sterilizing.
Athena - So interesting to hear how it works in other countries. I imagine Bosnia will be something similar. Although I never saw a breast feeding woman in BiH - I imagine it would be frowned on to feed publically there, whereas I'll feed Sam almost anywhere. If we were still in Tuzla I'd only feed him at home.
HOM - I looked for those stats but couldn't find any. I guess it is difficult to define so they haven't done it.
Mwa - Excellent point, I imagine it would be higher although the stats quoted by Plan B in her comment suggest that the figures are horrendously low from birth which suggests it may not go up by as much as we might think.
Tanya - I think going back to work is a huge thing. I can well see how introducing formula at this point makes a lot of sense for many people.
ReplyDeleteTroutie - I thought the teen thing was interesting too. I had no idea how many of them didn't even entertain the idea of breast feeding.
Anon - sure was! x
Just watched that bbc3 docu and I have to say I'm not suprised by the number, nearly everyone in the hospital I was at bottle fed thier baby which instantly put me in the minority at 23yrs. Guess I'll give you my story with it being the case.
ReplyDeleteAt first, I really struggled. It was seeringly painful, and my baby was 5weeks prem so very weak, he just ended up falling asleep, I wasn't sure if I was even producing enough and he was awaking every hour for a feed so to have nurse waking me during those small miniutes of snatched sleep between was a nightmare. I was never sure he was getting enough and so in desperation, resorted to a mix of breast and formula. I have to say the day breast support workers at the hospital were stars. showing me positions, best ways to get him to latch and seeing me stuggle throughout an entire day rather than an hour or two, although a lot of the older one's merely wrote me off as a moany kid who wanted other people to feed my baby.
In the end, my son ended up becoming ill and had to be taken down to the special baby unit which was a massive blow for me.
The day or two break however helped with the pain of latching so I was able to pump out my babys milk still giving him some of the nutrients he needed. So by the time he was strong enough to latch on properly, my nipples had toughened up. Formula went out the window as soon as he was healthy enough as he was rejecting it anyway.
The breast feeding in public has been tricky, after giving birth the whole issues I had about 'exposing' myself in public had been knocked on the head because lets face it, soon as you're pushing a baby and you have 5 people staring at your 'intimate lady parts' that's all over with. I did however have to deal with so many people staring,... rather glaring at me when I fed, teenagers and pervy men being the worst. Teenagers giggle point and laugh like your a freak, pervy men give you a smile that sends shivvers down your spine and makes you wonder if you're going to get followed home simply for feeding your child. The other part has been how to feed your child, there has never been anywhere to sit down and feed comfortably so I always stuggled, waiting for an old person to get bored of feeding the pigeons at the only park bench not to be burned or having to buy something in a cafe just to sit there. Nightmare.
I exclusively fed my boy til about 5 months when he started to show signs he wanted to be fed solids, nothing regimented, I saw the signs.
I still breast feed him at 17 months old and probably will carry on untill he's fed up of it which will again put me in that minority... way to go me.
hiya cherry i am watching your programme at the moment and i just wanted to let u know my thoughts on breast feeding. Im not a mum but i am a daughter! My brother, who is 18 months older than me refused to weane when i was born and also fed more than normal babies, which meant there just wasnt enough for me, i am a believer in breast feeding if i hopefully get the chance but i just wanted to make clear that the bond i have with my mum is so special, yes i am an adult now but as a child i just could not be closer to her. Breast feeding is just another way to bond but there r other ways. Other ways r just as important. Please dont feel guilty. Me and my mum r best friends and always have been x x
ReplyDeleteI think the idea that there is a 'breastapo' is a total myth. This is a term invented by the media to demonise breastfeeding mothers and those that promote and support breastfeeding. In reality breastfeeders are gagged by a constant pressure to not offend the formula feeding majority, so much so that we can actually have programme on television called 'is breast best?' - ridiculous. Its like apologising to creationists everytime evolution is mentioned.
ReplyDeleteWholly agree with your sentiments. I can't stand militants in any area, even ones I'm broadly in sympathy with, and I've had just the same positive feeding experiences as you. But 3%, that is shocking. Education does come into it, but in my experience and speaking to other mums some of whom have, some of whom haven't breastfed, the emotional side must be addressed too. Breastfeeding is to many more - and less - than a mechanical process and raises all sorts of issues around confidence in general, body confidence, taking on a whole new experience, allowing yourself to 'sit about' while other people deal with the house, cooking, other children etc. If the breastfeeding campaign is to be successful it must be realistic about the shape of modern life, the expectations women place on themselves and have placed on them, as feeding can be exhausting, messy, very time-consuming etc.
ReplyDeleteI fed my children til each was aged nine months, but I never got dewy-eyed or romantic about it. It was the best thing for them so I wanted to do it, but it was a drag at times and I would cheerfully have given up had my conviction not been so strong and had I not had such great support from the rest of the family.
I really wanted to breastfeed, but didn't produce any milk at all. And I was told that EVERYONE produces milk. Even women who haven't given birth produce milk.
ReplyDeleteMy baby would become hysterical when I held him, he was so desperate for food. I got no support from anyone, and spent about 3 days and nights with no sleep trying to feed my starving baby. I refused to go out and started hallucinating. The times I wasn't trying to breast feed, I spend with a breast pump attached to me. Nothing. And yes, this was after my milk had 'come in'.
In desperation I looked on the internet for other people like me. I found a tragic post by someone who also produced no milk but who stuck with breast feeding for 6 months. She had to spend 6 months basically breast feeding. She couldn't go out, couldn't eat much, certainly couldn't sleep. After 6 months she 'cracked' gave her baby a bottle and had a complete nervous break down. She was then sectioned and spent the next 2 years in a hospital.
The comments on her post congratulated her for being a good mother because she breast fed her children.
I could see that I was going down the barking mad route, but made the decision that I didn't want to end up in a hospital without my baby and so bottle fed. I think I'm a better mother for putting my baby first rather than my need to be seen a good mother.
That's what the Breastapo do you see. They make people like me feel like we have a dirty little secret because we didn't breast feed and 'gave up'. And frankly, it's dangerous. We shouldn't divide ourselves into BFer's and nonBF'ers. We're all mothers.
Sorry, this is very long and rambling. I applaud you for breastfeeding and wish I had been able to do it too. But I couldn't.
Having said all that. I think it's a bit scary that younger mothers aren't even considering bf. Why not? Is it all a sex thing? As in, breasts are for sex, we don't want them to go saggy etc? Perhaps we should be concentrating on empowering our women so that they don't feel that they need to be ever young and sexy.
My daughter was exclusively breastfed past 6 months as she wasn't interested in solids (other than paper) at that point.
ReplyDeleteI was still feeding her to 16 months and had to visit her regularly when I went back to work as it seems she had heard about 'breast is best' (it was good getting to know the staff at nursery!). I feel strongly that women like Cherry Healey who have problems breastfeeding and then feel so guilty about stopping are being let down badly by our health system. All midwives and healthvisitors should be trained to the same level as breastfeeding consultants as they have regular have the most contact with new mothers so can spot problems as they start to happen and give the right advice at the right time. I was lucky I had a local breastfeeding group where I could meet other breastfeeding mums and get the right advice when I needed it. If the support is out there more of those who want to breastfeed will do so for longer.