The Reaction to ‘Breast-Feed Gestapo’ is Outraged and Nuanced!
I love the reactions (in the comments and also sent to my e-mails) to the article - see post the Story of the Zoops! below and think you’re all right on. Absolutely. Amy P made some good points suggesting that the ’shrink’ that Peyser quotes as an expert might, just might, not be idiocy on Ms. Peyser’s part (why in the world would the colleagues of a Psychiatrist have any opinion worth mentioning?) unless! The pharmaceutical companies (and their cohorts the drug-pushing doctors) are behind the story. Hmmmmmmmmmmm. food for thought, and yes, it would explain a LOT. And the fact that the formula companies are sponsoring attacks just like this is very well documented by Mama Bear here: The New York City Formula Media Lies
So what do you learn from all this? beware the Squeemers! Long Live the Zoops!
Love,
Heather
amyphilo said,
August 6, 2007 @ 6:23 am
Zoopoopacoob - LMAO! And the look on the baby’s face… classic… and eerily familiar. =(
amyphilo said,
August 6, 2007 @ 6:42 am
While looking at the comic my son had this to say:
“That’s the hairy baby that is getting really cry-ie”
“That’s the grumpy baby”
- Isaac, 3 years old
amykids said,
August 6, 2007 @ 7:22 am
You know, this whole thing with the formula sample ban and the resulting Zoops has actually brought tears to my eyes this morning. While I am laughing at the comic, I have come to the crystal clear reality: this is what formula manufacturers essentially did. Swayed mothers away from breast feeding. And the Today show blab about mothers have formula fed for a long time. Wait a minute. How long has the human race inhabited this planet - from our knowledge? Okay, now that puts in perspective how L-O-N-G women have breast fed their babies. Formula has been around for a very small fraction of our existence. I’m sorry, sometimes I think our society is just NUTS! And they have the capacity to lock those of us up who don’t assimilate to their ideas. Argh. Hathor, thanks for the thought stimulating cartoons, always.
mamaof5 said,
August 6, 2007 @ 8:35 am
I think there is something to think about in that article though… the more I think about it. That whole generation that lived on formula (there for making it not a bad thing) forgot how to breastfeed. I am beginning to think all of us raised on formula have such a hard time, not because it is “normal” for it to be so hard to nurse, but because we have had that chain of knowlegde broken. Our mothers and grandmothers didn’t nurse (or nurse much) so we have no motherly support, no passed on knowledge, people thinking is it “weird” or “gross” or “coddling” or “spoiling” to do what we are physically ment to do. So it becomes hard to do. It is sad. It is so sad that we have to have laws to protect breastfeeding. That we have to stop the handing out of fake milk to people who don’t want it, you should have to ask for it, because it should be “normal” not need or want it… not the other way around.
Working in a hospital I would sometime float down to L&D and even the “breastfeeding” diaper bags had formula in them and discounts on formula. Not a discount of a pump, not nipple cream or a list of LLL learder numbers or meetings. Heck the LC was hardly there. YET damn if you couldn’t get formula. Sickening how we put profit over people… especially little babies.
I guess we really know what matters when we get articles like that… money matters people do not. Instead of offering support, guidence, love… etc. We offer drugs, formula and critisism. makes me sad
Heather in Tucson
nak
Suzanne said,
August 6, 2007 @ 12:02 pm
I too have found myself feeling mystified that anyone would consider breastfeeding to be a hardship or oppressive– it certainly isn’t naturally that way. But one thing that it did get me to thinking: our culture isn’t exactly set up to make things easy for mothers who want to breastfeed. Too many mothers experience impossible demands or get squeezed into schedules that just aren’t mom or child friendly. And then you have to deal with everyday rudeness from all quarters. If the mother is not getting the support she needs, damned straight it’s going to be depressing.
We live in a culture that views breasts as sexual playthings or as anti-gravity fashion accessories. As a culture we are not particularly warm or comfortable with emotions, and I think maybe overvalue “independence” to the point of absurdity– like expecting a baby who can’t do a thing for herself to “self-sooth”.
It’s an attitude that reinforces itself over time: People get very defensive about these things, and I think for a lot of people out there seeing someone go whole hog attachment parenting probably inspires some weird oedipal, primal envy– does that make sense? Because if you embrace the idea that yes, this is what everyone should have when they are a child, you then also have to go down that “what the hell is wrong with this world?” path. You also might have to revisit your own childhood and grieve a bit for what may have been lacking there instead of gloating about how right it all was. People don’t like doing that. They’d rather keep those boxes shut.
We have a whole generation which, if I understand the stats correctly, was 75% raised on bottle feeding and solitary confinement in a crib, etc. They didn’t grow up with much exposure to anything else. This what has become “normal”. They just don’t know any better. And it’s easy to make new mothers feel insecure about breastfeeding– first side of any difficulty and out comes the bottle. Which of course just starts a snowball effect and leads to more difficulty. Etc.
I would never ever put pressure on a mother who caves in to bottle feeding– more than likely, she is not getting any support for doing anything else, and she is probably doing everything that she can. What else can anyone do? What we really need to do is educate people, show them that this IS natural and normal, and hope that over time people get over these emotional hangups which, quite frankly, are just weird.
Suzanne said,
August 6, 2007 @ 12:07 pm
Heather, it is so true– the free formula isn’t offered to help the mothers, it’s offered as a promotional for profit based companies. That’s all that matters. $$$$ Nothing more.
If they wanted to help the mothers, there are so many other really useful freebies that they could offer, but they don’t. What does that say?
Emmasmom said,
August 6, 2007 @ 3:55 pm
I know this is kind of off topic but I just have to brag about the experience I had with the hospital I delivered Emma at. I was asked one time if I was planning on breastfeeding. I said yes. I then recieved a pump, nipple cream, nipple shields and some pamphlets on breastfeeding. I never recieved free samples of formula from the hospital or even asked if I wanted any. Even when Emma and I were having a hard time getting started they never offered a bottle or even suggested that I should consider it. I was told it can take some time to get going and not to worry she would get enough colostrum to keep her going til we were old pro’s at nursing. We are now going 6+months strong. I do have to pump as I work full time but having to go back to work did not deter me from giving Emma what I know is best for her.
I applaud the hospitals decision not to give out free samples. I wish all hospitals would follow suit.
wiffersnapper said,
August 6, 2007 @ 6:50 pm
Has anyone else noticed the strange connection between breastfeeding and not circumsizing? My mother, who actually did support my choice to breastfeed (although she wasn’t totally comfortable with watching me do it, but she did say she knew it was best), INSISTS that my future son will die of an infection unless he is circ-ed. I say that someone will perform an unnecessary amputation, without anestetisia (sp?) on my son only when they pry him from my dead, cold hands, the sky turns green, and the oceans turn to Cool-whip. Again, that’s the knowledge her generation was raised with. But how did the human race survive this long if that is actually necessary? I’m pretty sure that Ooga-booga the caveman both kept all parts of his body and had Mommy milk as long as he wanted. Maybe the cavemommies just knew more than we do! Lucky them!
yvetteyasui said,
August 6, 2007 @ 8:38 pm
Unfortunately, here is another article similar to Andrea Peyser’s NYPost from Babble.com the online magazine for urban parents: “Enough Already with the ‘Breast is Best’!”
Posted by Rachael Brownell (Redsy) http://www.babble.com/CS/blogs/strollerderby/archive/2007/08/03/you-can-t-make-women-breastfeed.aspx
On the flip side, some good press for breastfeeding, taken from Gwen Stefani’s interview in the Guardian Observer, link: http://observer.guardian.co.uk/woman/story/0,,2139209,00.html
Gwen Stefani was still breastfeeding son Kingston before her Sweet Escape tour launched back in April.
“I don’t know when I’m going to stop breastfeeding,” Gwen said from her hotel suite during her interview in London, fresh from another feed. “I’ll just keep going while I can - like, he’s getting his teeth so it is a little bit scary. He’s bitten me a few times!”
Gwen also gushed, “[Breastfeeding] is just obviously really convenient with my lifestyle. [For example, Kingston] nursed then went to sleep [during a flight from Los Angeles to London]. But he doesn’t sleep through the night. He’s up every three hours to feed.”
janaki said,
August 7, 2007 @ 11:21 am
Formula should have never EVER been a competitor to breast milk. Yet that’s what happened. It should have been something for the 1% or so of women who couldn’t produce enough breastmilk due to medical reasons or had to take medications for a serious condition that would get into their breastmilk and harm the baby. It should have never become something for women who were only afraid of having saggy boobs or felt they would be too constricted by breastfeeding. I think it’d be great if formula wasn’t available to the masses and people really did have to try, and I mean REALLY try breastfeeding. Then if you REALLY couldn’t breastfeed, formula would be available by perscription only. Now that would be great. It will NEVER happen in a million years, but it’d be great.
imommajen said,
August 7, 2007 @ 1:08 pm
Don’t know if it’s been noted in the past, but I’m new, so-
just can’t help noticing the offer for 6 free cans of formula in the left sidebar “ads by google”. talk about irony!
Brownell’s article asks for a time when LC’s will follow up w/subsidized home visits. Did no one tell her about LLL? I’ve had some wonderful help above & beyond the call of duty w/o ever paying a cent!
Anyway, just came from a really frustrating weekend of baby showers & moms who register for formula-blech! So nice to get my Hathor when I get home : )
Sanity8080 said,
August 7, 2007 @ 6:50 pm
In Jean Auel’s Earth’s Children series, not only do the mother’s WEAR their babies tied in a cloak to their bodies, but they all nursed their babies up through the third year (in the first book, the infants age is marked as Birth Year, Walking Year, Weaning Year, thus I take it to mean the babies were weaned in their 3rd year) Now I know the books are pretty much fiction with some historical speculation thrown in, but still. Millions of Neanderthal/Cro-Magnum can’t be wrong….
Rachel said,
August 8, 2007 @ 6:14 am
Believe it or not, ABC News did a decent job of reporting this story. Pretty balanced.
http://abcnews.go.com/Video/playerIndex?id=3452678
I got that link from http://www.breastfeedingsymbol.org/ , which also has an article about the fake news stories about the policy change.
Friend of the Cowgoddess said,
August 8, 2007 @ 7:53 am
When I was in college there was some hotline for people on the religous right to go to for information about anti-abortion stuff or something. There was an activist who passed out this 800 # to anybody who would take it to try and bankrupt them and clog up the line so no one could get through. If it wasn’t so terrible for the environment I would have ordered my free 6 cans today, but I settled for clicking on their ad about 10 times, which I plan on doing again tomorrow. Let’s cost them some $!
Love,
Mara
janaki said,
August 9, 2007 @ 11:47 am
Suzanne said: “Too many mothers experience impossible demands or get squeezed into schedules that just aren’t mom or child friendly”
And how true that is! I used to work evenings but I stopped when I couldn’t work Sundays anymore because my husband was working Sundays. They told me I’d have to “rethink that”. My daughter was 4 months old at the time and having a hard enough time taking bottles (of breastmilk) from my husband, so I didn’t even want to think about how difficult it would’ve been for a stranger (to her) to give her a bottle! So, yeah, I rethought things. I rethought how much I didn’t really need that job and my husband and I could figure out how to make it on his paycheck. It’s not easy, but we make it. We cut corners wherever possible, and I’m sure a lot of why we can make it work is because I don’t have to spend extra money on formula!
amyphilo said,
August 12, 2007 @ 8:06 am
I hate when people want you to rethink your own love and care for your child, as if it offends them, inconveniences them, or they think they know what is best for you. How incredibly patronizing.
I did notice the formula ads once before but forgot about it. How clever to click on the ad and get them to pay… does that really work?
I also saw an “Enfamil Breastfeeding Kit” ad on Myspace so I wrote them a rather nasty letter which if I paste here I will have to severely edit but maybe I will do it some time.
amyphilo said,
August 12, 2007 @ 8:08 am
Also this morning I was thinking about the Squeemers and their labor fields… he he he and I finally got it how the Squeemers sounds like screamers in 3 year old lingo. Duh, me.
amyphilo said,
August 12, 2007 @ 8:12 am
The ooga booga caveman and cool whip comment is hilarious. I had to read that one to my husband.