Originally Posted by
Playmate
I so agree OBM
As an Ex health professional who bottle fed all 3 of her very healthy intellegent children I still feel very irritated that I have to justify my decission, which was right for me in the given circumstances. The information is out there in abundance already and what ever the age of the mother they make an informed decision.
But who is asking you to justify your feeding decision on this occasion? This is what I don't get - when I see threads like this on any forum I don't automatically think - right I now need to tell anyone how I fed my children, for how long and assure people of their mental and health capabilities as children regardless of the choice I made, that I am still a fab mother regardless of my feeding choice. But so far 3 different people have felt the need to justify why they didn't BF their children - but thats not the point.
Historically soap opera's and the like have been used to raise awareness to the masses, in a language the masses understand and can relate to. They cover minor and monumental issue's to incite discussion in the media and communities - and whilst BF information may be in abundance for certain sectors of our community - its delivered in such a way that people feel preached at or judged. Normalising BF in the media could be considered as a gentle way for people to get the facts - but at its basic form it just shows that people do BF, and that its not weird and doesn't have to be a big thing. A BF mother could sit alongside a Bottle feeding mother and how they feed their child should never be an issue.
There is still a massive stigma in this country about BF - in part because the government promote it through their agencies in such a preachy way that people are immediately defensive (rightly so) if they 'opt out'. Also in part because women who do BF are seen as hippy nature loving weirdo women and because there have been very few positive bf role models in the media, on telly or in films.
I have no idea why we have made this such an emotive and taboo subject. Its crazy!
triangle sandwiches are better than square ones...
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