Breast feeding- were any of you actively discouraged from BF?

My first attempts at feeding were supervised by the ward sister, a young, snappy, and impatient woman, who was not at all supportive. I was giving it one last try, and this was supervised by an auxiliary nurse, Nurse Pike, who just sat on the bed, chatted, and told me I’d soon get the hang of it. She was right, and all three were fed until around a year old, no thanks to Sister!

Incidentally, son 1 wasn’t madly interested in feeding at first, so had to be coaxed, but son 2 latched on hungrily just minutes after birth. Strangely enough, their personalities are still like that 40+ years later, one laid back, and one diving headlong into everything!

I BF both my babies in the 1970s. I knew it was best for them and avoided a lot of workfor me. I delivered them in a big hospital then spent a week in a small maternity hospital each time. The staff in the maternity hospital were great and helped me to get the feeding established. I'm pleased to say all 4 of my DGC were also BF.

I had my babies in the 1970s and it never occurred to me not to breastfeed as my Mum had always said how much easier it was than all that sterilising of bottles.

I don't remember saying anything of this to my son and daughter but I was extremely proud of my son, aged 12, who had no embarrassment at standing up in his English lesson and defining "wet nurse" (as mentioned by Shakespeare which they were reading), and adding that it really was best to breastfeed your baby. The English teacher was very amused and keen to tell me what a lovely son I had (and still have )

Then of course they are now developing breast milk in a lab:

www.newyorker.com/magazine/2023/03/13/biomilq-artificial-breast-milk/amp

They are calling it Biomilq.

Unveiling the predatory tactics of the formula milk industry
New report^ in The Lancet today.

www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(23)00118-6/fulltext

Not sure many of you will be sufficiently interested in the longer read above - but here's a short article about it in The Guardian

amp-theguardian-com.cdn.ampproject.org/v/s/amp.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/feb/07/underhand-formula-milk-ads-stop-millions-from-breastfeeding-experts-say?amp_gsa=1&_js_v=a9&usqp=mq331AQIKAGwASCAAgM%3D#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16781289012793&csi=0&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&share=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Flifeandstyle%2F2023%2Ffeb%2F07%2Funderhand-formula-milk-ads-stop-millions-from-breastfeeding-experts-say

I too had babies in the early 70s and in the big New Town I lived in, and in every booklet I was given breast is best was the message and all the medical profession encouraged us to so do.

With lots of very young mothers in the area, few did, I did nd was the Health Visitors pride and joy.

I had my babies in the 1970s, when breastfeeding was deeply unpopular but I was determined to do the natural thing.
It wasn't where I lived - although Sister at the hospital who 'helped' me obviously had never breastfed herself. She was so matter-of-fact - 'Here's how you do it! Just get on with it'.

Other staff were much more helpful.

I had my babies in the 1970s, when breastfeeding was deeply unpopular but I was determined to do the natural thing.
My second baby was in special care for 10 days and, every time I went there to feed her, the nurses insisted I sit behind a screen.
Same with baby 3, who was too ill to feed. Days went by and my breasts were engorged. I was told I needed a breast pump but there wasn’t one on the ward!
I never got help or encouragement except from mother and mother in law, very rare in those days.

I hadn’t decided whether to breast or bottle feed until DD was born and it was a completely spur of the moment choice to BF, despite having a C Section. Hospital staff were supportive, but were not averse to shoving a bottle in the hand of anyone who was struggling., especially if the baby did a lot of crying. Both my kids were BF on demand and by the time they were a couple of months old were almost spherical!

I haven't read all of the posts but spotted NCT classes. I attended these for my first child, had a birth plan, every intention of breast feeding etc ... and it all went WRONG! Ended up with a caesarean, and try as I might, I let down sweat not milk whenever she came near me as it was so, so painful, and ended up with a milking parlour in the lounge! (I now think she was possibly tongue-tied as I fed my second daughter for a year very successfully. BUT I do think in hindsight that the NCT encouraged us to have these very high expectations, and I felt very guilty about it all (although I was a Post Natal Co-ordinator with them for a few years afterwards).

My grandma had 11 children. She used to say that babies bring their own love and their own food. I’m quite sure she wouldn’t have been able to afford formula 😂

It's really heartbreaking how many has unsupportive mothers and MILs

Chocolatelovinggran

My mother was horrified at my BF. She blamed it on my father's peasant Italian heritage...

gosh that really made me laugh why are Mothers so extreme?

I don't think my MIL liked that I breastfed, she certainly mentioned that my babies were hungry a lot and why didn't I just get some proper food into them thankfully, I'm not easily offended

Fleurpepper

Do any of you remember the time when Nestlé and other formula producers would actively get staff to encourage bottle feeding, feeding babies on bottles without asking permission, and would send you home with large samples?

After an emergency C-Section after a very long labour, I discharged myself and went home without any support, as I could not trust staff not to bottle feed my baby, despite requesting that they did not.

The Nestlé boycott was started when that company (and perhaps others) was accused of doing exactly that in developing countries where anything "Western" could be promoted as being modern and desirable. The result was that mothers would go home with samples of formula and then have to buy more as their own milk had dried up. Also in places where the water supply was unreliable, babies died from having feeds made up with contaminated water.

The boycott continues - Google Baby Milk Action.

My mother had mastitis and discouraged me from bf.
All mine bottle fed and all thrived.
My SIL breast fed and we could see the baby disappearing before our eyes. My mother said to her son ‘if that baby is not put on formula , I will phone the health visitor. One month later we saw a healthy bouncing baby!
Each to their own but don’t look down on people who choose to bottle feed.

This seems a perfectly legitimate topic for discussion - why has it been received with suspicion from some? Very interesting, not least to hear how attitudes have changed (or not) over the years.

MawtheMerrier’ the comment you took exception to was from Fancythat, not from Fleurpepper.

Franbern

Do wonder if in some cultures MiL will discourage b.feeding as it it known that this helps to delay chance of getting pregnant again
Whereas many lactating Mums can and will get pregnant (unless taking precautions), women;s bodies return to 'normal' much quicker if NOT lactating.

As I said, I bottle fed my first, gave birth to my second (full term) exactly eleven months later.

Gdd1 was just 6 months and still entirely BF when dd became pregnant with Gds. But zero signs for so long, so that at the first scan (expecting 7-8 weeks max) she found out that she was already 14.5 weeks gone!
They’d never expected Nature to oblige so quickly.

1976 & 1980 It never occurred to me to bottle feed. My mother & grandmother had breastfed successfully and it just seemed the natural way to do things. Never had any problems and enjoyed the experience both times. Both DD’s went on to breast feed their babies too. There’s no right or wrong way, surely all that matters is a healthy, thriving baby.

I don't remember anyone discouraging me from breastfeeding I'm late 70s, they would certainly have received a sharp response from me though.
Daughter and daughter in law also breastfed their children both 43 yrs old. None of us would have taken any notice anyhow because it's not anyone else's business if a women chooses to breastfeed.

My mother was horrified at my BF. She blamed it on my father's peasant Italian heritage...

fancythat

Fleurpepper

Thanks for all who commented.

My intention was not to open yet another Breast versus Bottle debate.

But to find out if any of you, or DDs, colleagues, friends, etc- in the past, currently or anywhere in between- were actually DISCOURAGED from Breast Feeding, and by whom, with reasons stated or not.

Zoejory, I truly do not think it is genetic. But expectations leading to advice, comments, support or not, etc.

In the cases of younger colleagues, living in extended families, the MIL encouraged Bottle feeding as a method of control, on both DIL, son and baby. OH also had several similar cases.

I have quite up to date info about some.

No, no one was discouraged. But medical staff do nto have as much time to put to this as they would like.

Things though are wrong in the Uk, as apparently, the Uk is literally the worst country in the world for the amount of breastfed babies. Apparently.

Thanks to all who contributed. the thread has run its course.

May I point out, as others have done, that I DID NOT post the above comment, as wrongly accused. NO apology has come been made for this mis-quote and mis-use, sadly.

Fleurpepper, admittedly it was ages ago, but in an American magazine I once read that women shouldn’t breastfeed if it makes their husbands jealous.
What sort of man could be jealous of a tiny baby being fed its proper food???
Not the sort I’d ever want to marry, that’s for sure.

Thank you to all who contributed. It is good to hear few felt 'pushed' towards bottle feeding against their wish.

Bottle feeding baby without mother's permission was certainly the case where I had my first, West Midlands, and also given samples of formula.

Franbern- in the case I, my friend and OH came across, it was about 'power and control' by matriarch.

A friend of mine was so pressured to breast feed (child is now 4) that the lack of sympathy, when she was having problems with it post- caesarean, actively made the decision to bottle feed to stop the enforced and prolonged attempts to breast feed. North East of England, 2019.

I am 100% breast is best, but it's sad that she wasn't listened to and supported more.