A Bad Year for Breastfeeding

This year has felt like one attack after another on breastfeeding.

There's been the ongoing Facebook debacle; photos of breastfeeding being removed while Playboys pages are continued to be allowed to flaunt more flesh than a whole convention of breastfeeding mothers.

Then there was the ridiculous opinion piece in the British Medical Journal which many newspapers, including The Daily Fail regurgitated as fact, further undermining the benefits of breastfeeding.

Just this week I saw a short piece in Practical Parenting magazine about the Chinese developing GM cows to produce human milk! One sentence says the milk will have more nutritional content in it, though its unclear whether it means than breastmilk or than formula milk.

And now this.

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health-news/campaigners-livid-as-whitehall-axes-breastfeeding-week-2287445.html

Our beloved government in its wisdom has cut national support for National Breastfeeding Week and for what? Money? Dare I say it corporate sponsorship from a certain multi million pound unethical, immoral corporation? A quiet word to the Prime Minister, axe the funding or the Kit Kay gets it?

I digress into Nestle mudslinging but honestly, why is good health so threatening? Breastfed babies equal healthier children and adults, so less strain on the NHS, less work time lost for employers as parents take less time off to care for sniffly kids, the list of benefits to society goes on much further than I am attempting today.

Breastmilk is heroic, miraculous even... life saving and extraordinary. They still haven't discovered all there is to know about it and new studies all the time are realising the incredible properties of this liquid gold.

When will the world start to stand up and be counted on the side of health rather than wealth?
Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.9

Comments

  1. Jen - LifeWithLevi8 June 2011 at 04:15

    Because, you know, genetically modified cows must be superior, right? /saracasm

    Ugh and ugh!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

I positively welcome messages and comments however please note this is a personal blog and abuse will be deleted. That said, there's always room for lively debate so make yourself at home.

Popular posts from this blog

Getting my Midwifery Hygge On

Image
(November 2016b) Recently I was introduced to the concept of ‘Hygge’, or rather I was recently introduced to the word to describe a principle I realise I already aim to live by. On reflecting on the topic further I made the connection also to my midwifery practice – I often receive feedback from women that I help them to feel ‘safe’ and for me safety in my personal life is wrapped up in the safeguards of my close-knit family life and community of friends. Hygge is a Danish word and is virtually impossible to pronounce in English but you will recognise the feeling of cosiness, intimacy, woolly socks and hot chocolate around an open-fire-ness even if you haven’t been to Denmark, apparently the happiest country in the world. It occurred to me that Hygge and Midwifery were a duo demanding a little extra attention. Photo credit: http://www.chatelaine.com/living/hygge-danish-concept-could-make-winter-more-bearable/   After a busy couple of shifts, I am simultaneously...
Read more

An update of sorts

Well it really has been a while since I last blogged here. A couple of reasons really... Twitter being a bit of a culprit but hey ho. You can find me on there by the way if you like. I have imaginatively called myself @michelletant LOL The other reasons include my all consuming midwifery course. I kid you not, it has the potential to completely take over your life. Plus of course my family. So I am here today for an update of sorts. You may have read my post about my son with (amoung other things) sensory processing disorder ( http://michelletant.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/supermarket-meltdowns.html  ) and we have been going through the statementing process with him. What that means it that we applied for a 'Statement of Additional Needs'. You have to apply through the county and it has to sort of be done on your behalf by the agencies involved with the child. So in our case it was the Speech and Language Therapist, the Occupational Therapist, the Educational Pyschologiest, t...
Read more

Supermarket Meltdowns

My 4 year old son starts school in September and of course in any family this is big news. My baby boy is growing up, leaving nursery and joining big school with his big brother and his baby sister is taking his place at nursery. Part of the normal cycle of family life. For us though, this has been anything but normal. When I think back to when number one son started school, my feelings couldn't have been more different. I was confident about his ability to fit in, to progress, to get the most out of school. I took it absolutely for granted that this next step in his life would go smoothly, that after a couple of (expected) tears at the classroom door, that he would be flying. And he has... he is happy, popular, well behaved, progressing academically and apparently a pleasure to have in the class. My second son is a sociable, beautiful character with a delightful sense of humour. He has brilliant rythym and loves music. He is a speed demon on his scooter and he will bounce happ...
Read more