& 
Last week I watched the BBC documentary ‘Is Breast Best?’ following Cherry Healey as she tried to make sense of the guilt she felt after giving up breastfeeding her daughter due to seemingly insurmountable obstacles (namely her painfully swollen boobs when she was hospitalized with mastitis). Most of the programme content was quite run of the mill – interviews with moms with varying views on breastfeeding: those who loved breastfeeding, those that struggled and those that had no intention of letting their baby within 3 feet of their boob.
What shocked me the most about this programme wasn’t the dad who had breast milk on his cornflakes, or the mum who was still breastfeeding her 5- and 3-year- old (or the pendulous nature of her poor overworked boobs), it was the attitude of the teenage mums towards breastfeeding. Apparently, teenagers don’t breastfeed – it’s for older women; teenagers bottle feed, that’s the way it is.
I don’t want a baby on my nipple.
People would look down their nose at you.
You get Chavs calling you a slag ‘coz you’ve got your boobs out.
People will look at you funny, like, why are you getting your boobs out in public?
Boobs are for sex and showing off. That’s what they’re there for.
These were some of the disturbing reasons given by the group of teenage mums as to why they wouldn’t consider breastfeeding their babies. According to one teen mum the type of people she expects to breastfeed are posh people with a few kids, a husband and a big house. ‘It’s not normal when you’re a teenage mum. What you see, you do. Teenagers bottle feed’. These girls don’t have the confidence to try breastfeeding. They’re expecting bitchy comments to come raining down on them if they do. They seem obsessed with ‘getting their boobs out’ in public. I breastfed almost exclusively for a year, yet I only breastfed ‘in public’ a handful of times. And there are different kinds of ‘in public’ – feeding your baby when you’re out doesn’t mean you have to sit on a central bench in the mall.
I believe in every mother making their own choice about breastfeeding and don’t expect anyone else to judge that choice, but how can these girls possibly make the right choice when they are so pitifully ill-informed? – when the main reason they are not even considering trying to breastfeed is ‘it’s not normal’. Breastfeeding isn’t that popular in Britain. Only 78% of new mums try it (compared with 87% in Canada) and by the age of five months, only 3% of British babies are exclusively breastfed. Among the young mothers it’s least popular of all – less than half of teenage mothers in Britain breastfeed.
Initially I was surprised by their attitude, but thinking about it, these girls are barely out of puberty; they’ve barely got used to having boobs. They’re still in the mindset of using their assets to attract boys. They are highly influenced by their idols - pop-stars, models and actresses with brimming cleavage. The conclusion was that for more young mums to breastfeed it would need to be seen as ‘cool’. When asked if celebrities were seen to breastfeed, would it encourage her to try it, one teen mum said:
“I think it would, yeah, cos, like, I see Rihanna with red hair, and my hair’s red. Cos celebs do it, you do it. It’s one of them things.”
So if Rihanna and her celeb friends are listening out there, perhaps when the time comes they would consider ‘getting their boobs out’ in an effort to make breastfeeding cool.
Filed under: Baby, Parenting Tagged: | Baby, Boobs, breastfeeding, Cherry Healey, Family, formula feeding, IS Breast Best?, Motherhood, new mom, new mom dilema, Parenting, Teenage mums
The lack of information is a major problem. However, many celebs do talk about breastfeeding their babies and the general response is “yeah, yeah, yeah – another celeb breastfeeding … and? So what?” It’s a shame. Gisele got a fierce reaction to her saying breastfeeding should be made law for 6 months and people rolled their eyes when Khloe Kardashian talked about how hard it was to wean
It is so important for these celebs to get their story out. Especially if it dispels the myth that you need throw out all your make up, your nice clothes and sacrifice yourself to a life of hemp robes with slits to keep your breasts within easy access.
Perhaps if it was seen as THE thing to do more people will do it – problem is the breastfeeding industry is not a profitable one, well, not as profitable as formula. Sadly it goes way beyond media, it involves those around you.
Women today are lucky to have the choice but from my own experience, I am treated like I am nuts to be breastfeeding – the only person who talked positively about it in real life was a midwife on the maternity ward when I delivered and by that time most women have made their minds up.
I wonder what would be the right approach to give breastfeeding the glossy appeal to make more women try it?
The issue of breastfeeding may be partialy affected by celebrity role models. However, I feel that this is a red-herring; breast feeding is not popular in any forum and herein lies that problem. Pubs don’t spport it, workplaces don’t support it, at times hospitals don’t support it. At no point were prostheitic nipples mentioned during this programme. I feel that this is a real oversight as I found them invaluable for the 8 weeks that I breastfed. I only stopped due to work / money coimmitments; I would have been happy to continue with my prosthetic nipples, they were brilliant if you found latching on really difficult.
I think people should have the choice to decide whether they want to breastfeed or not theres loads of medical reasons why women dont breastfeed. Im pretty sure that if the mother and child are both comfortable with whatever decision is made then a mother and child can bond without breast feeding as well as a mother who does breastfeed. I really disagree with the fact that it should be made glamorous to prompt more mums to breastfeed, why should they be prompted if they really dont want to? what happend to freedom of choice? I have no children im only 18, but id like to think that i will breast feed with my first child without any prompting but because im happy to, and if i dont then im sure as hell that i will still be natural and bond and love my child as much as i would as if i was breast feeding. Another point id like to make i think if a woman is going to breast feed i dont agree with it being in a public place i wouldnt want to be eating a meal whilst watching another woman breast feed but thats just me! But i definately think that there should be places where mothers can breast feed without an audience and with more support. And whoever thinks that “boobs” are just for sex are absolutely crazy!!! Crikey if it was only for sex then why would our bodies naturally make and provide something for a child that we delivered, its like saying a vagina is for sex? LOL. Anyway one last thing about formula milk, it must be as healthy as natural otherwise it wouldnt be given as an option.
Agree, disagree, whichever if u have an opinion it shows you care and are interested in the society
It’s great that you would breastfeed, but its very sad that you have a problem with breastfeeding in public. Do you want mum’s to sit on the floor of a dirty, smelly toilet to feed their babies?
I prefer to feed my baby somewhere discreet if possible, (it’s not always) like at a table in the corner of a quiet cafe, or under a tree in the park, and usually feed him before going out so he’s ok for a few hours, but will never, ever feed my baby in a public loo or stay at home for months and months just so that people like you don’t feel uncomfortable.
I am 26yrs old, it was my daughters birthday yesterday, she is now 12! I also have a second child who is nearly 8. I breastfed both my girls for sixth months even though ‘teenagers don’t do that’ as a result they are less than rarely ill and are both above average in school for their age. I would not eat my food in a public loo so I would rather not leave the house, instead of taking the risk to feeding my vunerable child in one! As a breastfeeder I have no experiance of colic or constipation and have always had a constant supply of perfect milk on tap at the correct temp for my human child.
You’re missing the point here. How about asking the stars to put their boobs BACK IN and model modesty and class and *gasp!!* abstinence so we have FEWER teen moms to begin with. These young moms can breastfeed until their kids are 15 and it still won’t make up for the disadvantages of being born to a teen mother. The mere fact that these girls are citing a lack of Hollywood (and local) popularity as the reason that they are deciding not to do what is BEST for their own child is enough to show that they are not nature enough to be having children in the first place. Let us not ignore the elephant in the room any longer, ladies.
[...] blogs include ‘Boobs are for Sex’ and other reasons not to be breastfeed’ and ‘Do the Breastapo have a point’. Whereby mothers express there ‘major [...]
everyone to there own.you cannot force a new mum to breastfeed or bottlefeed or judge because they want to either breastfeed or bottlefeed and older mums do not always chose to breastfeed.i was 25 when my first child was born and i never beast fed him for reasons i didnt want to breastfeed.just because you bottlefeed does not mean you have a less of a bond with your child what a load of bolony
I’d class 25 as a younger mum actually!
I believe that the major problem with women choosing not to do what is best for their children, that is, breastfeeding, is a lack of education and support. While a newborn, if normal and healthy and term is perfectly capable of latching on and nursing, the mother must be taught to breastfeed, as it is a new experience. She must be supported so that if she does run into problems, someone who is qualified will be able to help her to stay the course. With artificial formula feeding being touted as the next best thing and advertising abounding, and hospitals making ready to feed formula readily available and the conspicuous absence of breastfeeding consultants and educators, it becomes an easy choice(if there is one) to bottle feed. We observe other mammals nursing their young quite naturally, but we frown upon it when it comes to humans. Every mammal is capable of producing food for its young with just the right amount of nutrients and immune building properties. Human breasts are seen as something sexual and are portrayed that way in the media, and have become taboo due to such. For lack of knowledge we let go to waste a perfect food source which is always ready and lacks nothing. Cows milk is designed for calves, not humans. Would it be sensibe to put a human infant underneath a cow to nurse? Of course not, but this is what we do in a sense. We let dry up our own milk and we subsidize formula to women who cannot afford it. Wouldn’t it make more sense both economically and for the health benefits to advocate for breastfeeding?
Fair play to Sherry Healey for exploring this subject – I had my daughter in May 1990 at the age of 24 (and 2 days) as a single mother in London and breastfed for 16 months. It was difficult having to do it on my own but very rewarding – for cracked nipples, I used nipple shields which are like plastic covers or “Mexican hats”, which gave my nipples time to recover; I don’t understand why these were not mentioned in the documentary.
I had mastitis twice but got through this. I fed my daughter on the tube once (got stuck on the Northern line for over half an hour), on London bus and also in cafés and can honestly say I got no bad or shocked reactions (if you do it discreetly and with confidence, nobody notices – I had a little shawl with me and draped it over us) – the only time I got an adverse reaction was on a plane to Dublin when the stewardess woke my daughter when putting on the extra seatbelt to secure her to me and I had to feed her as she got hysterical – a businessman looked over at me shocked and I just stared him out of it – I believe breasts’ primary function is not for men but for the nourishment and bonding with our young and no person will convince me otherwise. I did feel awkward feeding in front of male relatives at first but this feeling soon went.
I do agree education and support should be better both in the UK and Ireland (I moved back when daughter was 7 months) and more facilities should be laid on – maybe breast feeding should be mandatory for a week or so in order that babies get the extra vitamins from the colostrum but this is really not that feasible – it is up to Mum whether she wants to feed or not. If I had had a partner or a job to return to, I doubt whether I would have fed for as long as I did but I am glad I did.
Agree and hats up for Francis. It can be done and it should be a naturally automatic thing for you to do to be prepared with everything you need to breastfeed. Wearing some sort of scarf or cape or take a hat with you to cover whilst breastfeeding in public (when necessary) won’t shock people. It is sad that teenagers have to look at celebrities as their raw model. This is showing how fragile they are. They do not need celebrities to start breastfeeding or show them how to do it; they need more education on the subject. Yes it is a shame that teenagers have to be mums when they should really be enjoying their freedom. However, breastfeeding is a win win situation for both mother and baby does not matter how old you are. I had my daughter at 26 and breastfed for 13 months, she is now 12. Though it maybe difficult to find a private place to breastfeed at work, we are lucky that we can take advantage of maternity leave and have the flexibility to adjust your hours to suit your new circumstances when you go back. I worked part time and I made sure I had enough breast milk in the fridge when I went out to work, it was easy enough to be warmed up by whoever was looking after her .
Maybe it’s just me but watching those mum on the program breastfeeding, I could see that they were not holding the baby where it is comfortable for them and the babies. I put my baby’s head on the arm (elbow) of the same side breast my baby was feeding on (head on left hand when latching on left breast). This frees up my other hand to do anything, such as putting a cover over my baby’s head or making sure the baby’s nose is not covered by the breast itself. It is a good idea to rest the baby’s head on a small pillow/cushion to relief aching on the arm. That is just from my experience. I had difficulty in the first three days when my baby refused to latch on me, but I did not give up. As she grew older, she knew what to do and she practically did it herself.
Hi ive watched your programme, I got pregnant when I was fifteen had my son when I was just 16. I lived in Ashton-u-Lyne at the time,23years ago. I breast fed my son for over three months. It was difficult but I did it without the support of networks that are available now.
I breast fed my daughter to 16 months and had to visit her regularly when I went back to work as it seems she had heard about ‘breast is best’ (it was good getting to know the staff at nursery!). I feel strongly that women like Cherry Healey who have problems breastfeeding and then feel so guilty about stopping are being let down badly by our health system. All midwives and healthvisitors should be trained to the same level as breastfeeding consultants as they have regular have the most contact with new mothers so can spot problems as they start to happen and give the right advice at the right time. I was lucky I had a local breastfeeding group where I could meet other breastfeeding mums and get the right advice when I needed it.