Thursday, May 15, 2003

Belfast Telegraph Woman 2 Woman: 'Breast is best' but not for us?
Breastfeeding is still a social taboo in some quarters, a new local study shows. Jane Bell reports on Breastfeeding Awareness Week

By Jane Bell
email: jbell@belfasttelegraph.co.uk

"PAULA Yates got turfed out of Harrods for doing it. The Speaker won't tolerate it in the chamber of the House of Commons. And one woman had a bucket of dirty water hurled round her for daring to do it near a shopping centre.

What is this terrible social 'crime'? Breastfeeding. This is National Breastfeeding Awareness Week - aimed at pointing out the health benefits, supporting breastfeeding mothers and encouraging social acceptance.

It will be an uphill struggle...."
spiked-life | Column | Who needs Breastfeeding Awareness Week? Who needs Breastfeeding Awareness Week?

"It's national breastfeeding awareness week - and the moralists have got the teat between their teeth (1).

The UK Department of Health on Monday advised mothers to breastfeed their babies exclusively at least for the first six months of their lives, as 'exclusive breastfeeding …provides all the nutrients a baby needs' (2).

This brings the UK's recommendation into line with that of the World Health Organisation (WHO). It has won the government friends in the Community Practitioners and Health Visitors Association, the Royal College of Midwives, and those champions of earth-motherhood, the National Childbirth Trust (NCT); and it has made absolutely clear who the enemy is: those irresponsible formula-milk mothers, who turn to the bottle when things get rough...."