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Breast is best - and for very different reasons

(33 Posts)
Grammaretto Fri 18-Oct-19 21:55:00

I was encouraged to breastfeed by DM who fed all of us herself but when my first was born almost 50 years ago only 2 of us were BFeeding in the ward.
DD was told by the health visitor it was a social class thing and if your mother hadn't, it was unlikely that you would.
Her health visitor was encouraging.
My grand MiL didn't feed her babies because of her inverted nipples. She gave them cows' milk. She told me this herself as she watched me breastfeed, telling me I was very lucky.

grannysyb Fri 18-Oct-19 19:33:21

My children were born 50 and nearly 49 years ago and I was actively encouraged to breastfeed and did so. I remember the Nestle scandal.

Baggs Fri 18-Oct-19 19:12:59

Several decades ago there was a campaign to get people to boycott Nestlé products because they were selling baby formula where people didn't have access to clean water so formula feeding was really unsafe.

Plus ça change...

SueDonim Fri 18-Oct-19 18:00:44

Although the environmental issues weren't in such sharp focus as they are today, these aspects were talked about when my youngest child was a baby, 20+ years ago.

Thank goodness we do have formula, though, otherwise a lot of babies wouldn't have survived to adulthood.

BlueSky Fri 18-Oct-19 17:40:14

When my children were born, 40+ years ago, breast feeding was actively discouraged by midwives and nurses, I tried but told that there was no point, that bottle was best and I was made to feel old fashioned and a freak. Also no feeding on demand, strictly every 4 hours. And don't get me started on co sleeping, then babies had to go and stay in their cot from day one and preferably in their own room! Now all this has been reversed by the so called experts!

blondenana Fri 18-Oct-19 15:26:04

were not wee i wish there was an edit button, i did read it through ,honestly

blondenana Fri 18-Oct-19 15:24:50

jura2 this isn't a new story,i think if you search it has been mentioned on Gransnet before, not too long ago
Terrible all the same,none of my children were breast fed,they wee all fed on Cow& Gate, and all have grown up very fit and muscular[the boys anyway]

jura2 Fri 18-Oct-19 15:14:44

Must say I had never thought about this aspect of the Formula/BF discussion/debate. But Sally opened my eyes on a very different aspect - the environmental impact.

www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/sep/30/the-environmental-cost-of-formula-milk

Formula is a multi billion industry - and they work very hard at promoting formula, even more in the '3rd world' and recently in China. Last year, I could not find the Organic formula a friend wanted me to take back abroad for her- and I could not find any in several shops and supermarkets. The reason- the Chinese buying all to send back home to re-sell at huge mark up.