I think I'll make February all about breastfeeding. The do's, the do not's, try this, odd cases and breastfeeding myth busters. It would fill up February quite nicely.
I had a great talk with Danella from the Bub Hub on Monday. We have known each other for quite some time and have a cackle each time we speak. I personally love the Bub Hub site and have used it many times to help parents, forward expert parenting articles, and not at all mentioning the few distress calls of help myself when it comes to all things Little Miss Mischief, under the guise of another name.
We got to talking about breastfeeding and the ethics of advertising on parenting sites. I didn't know that formula & bottle companies are viewed as the Smoke & Alcohol of the under 3's culture! There is such a restriction of advertising placed on these companies it seems almost not worthwhile.
Bottle companies cannot advertise unless they visually include a breast pump in their advertising or have a breast pump on their product list. Breast feeding must be promoted above and beyond any substitute.
Wow! I do agree with the healthy promotion of breastfeeding but I don't agree with forcing companies to obtain a product that might not be well designed just for the sake of appeasing the advertising Nazi's. This type of behaviour is walking a fine line between enforcing conformity and overstepping social correctness. What has me confused, is who or what organisation governs this anyway.
It's scary to think that down the track just like Cigarette companies are forced to put graphic distressing pictures of diseased body parts on their packaging, the same will apply with formula cans,
"Warning, the use of formula will decrease your breast feeding life, possibly make your child stupid, shun you socially and lead to the annihilation of the entire human race!" For help on quitting formula feeding call our quit line on 13....
Or in the near future when all smokes will have to be wrapped in brown paper, just like alcohol, which will leave all unfortunate smokers having to guess which brand they might be smoking or what strength, heaven forbid if you land menthol smokes! the same could apply to formula tins, it certainly heading that way.
I can see in the near future, mothers sneaking up to the brown papered tins in the baby isle guessing if they are buying the correct age, socially unacceptable product and stowing it in their handbag, not in their trolley, till checkout time, while they peruse the crowd for any familiar faces, it would be death by gossip if caught.
I can imagine huddles forming outside school fences, with educative whispering from experienced mothers to newbies on how to detect the correct unidentifiable formula by sense of smell alone. A whiff from 10 paces minimum, then the stealth, cunningness and grace of a 1950's cat burglar to swipe it of the shelf.
There have been over the years, some strong rumours circulating that if the pharmaceutical companies had their way, formula would only be dispensed by prescription only, they have enough money and underhanded dealings going on to make that a real possibility.
What about the mother? Would the mother have to go through breast feeding counselling, be assessed by a lactation consultant before formula could be prescribed? What about the other parent? the one without the mammary glands and the hair around the nipples?
Well, hope not, because mothers will go to their grandmothers and ask "How did you do it?", mostly it was cows milk mixed with sugar of milk, boiled and skimmed, to make the home made formula of the pre 1960's. It's also a recipe for disaster.
Would a mother have to also battle picket lines of Nature mums demanding the supermarkets stop stocking the formula. Of course I wonder how many of these mums will be around to wet nurse an infant, whose mother is sick, or has lost her milk, had a car accident, had to go back to work.
Wet nursing is very natural, and has been practised throughout the eons of history, I have done it myself for 2 babes.
My imagining would involve setting up a human dairy for mothers who find nursing someone elses baby a repulsive prospect. With no formula about there's no choice, lactating mothers could spend their days lining up to be paid for their liquid gold, find it Woolies that very afternoon under the brands such as "Diary Mothers" sold in 500ml, 1ltr or 2 ltr quantities.
There are already in place underground milk banks, where mothers who, for what ever reason, can no longer breastfeed their baby, can buy breast milk rather than using commercially prepared formula. I think that this is absolutely brilliant and would solve the moral dilemma immediately, except that the pharmaceutical companies put the kibosh on that by issuing statements that diseases such as HIV, could be transmitted through breast milk. Unfortunately they are not wrong.
I think commercial formula is as necessary a part of early parenting life as it is to teach them to drive years down the track, except formula should be less scary.
Another smoke free blog :)
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