Note some comments have been deleted at the request of the commentator. This may have lead to some replies also being deleted. To coincide with World Breastfeeding Week 2016, we will be holding virtual versions of our Breastfeeding Dilemma Workshop at 10am and 4pm GMT on Tuesday 2nd August 2016. The Breastfeeding Dilemma: how do we encourage breastfeeding and support women in doing so, without subjecting those who choose not to breastfeed, or are unable to do so, to shame and guilt with potentially devastating consequences? We explore philosophical mistakes in the way we talk and think about infant feeding choices and the impact pressure to breastfeed can have on maternal health and the experience of new motherhood. To join in, (1) Listen to the Introduction to the Virtual Workshop (recording available here, transcript available here.) (2)Have a look at the abstracts, recordings, and links to papers which can be found here. (You can look at as much or as little as you wish but I'd suggest beginning by listening to the Overview of Talks.) (3) Look at the discussion questions, available here. (4) Take part in the discussion in the comments section below and follow along as others comment. I'll be here to respond from 10-11am and 4-5pm (and hope lots of other people will be too), but if you can't make it then, you are still very welcome to post and I will get back to you. (5) Fill in our feedback form to let us know what you thought about the workshop. Note: If you are joining us for the scheduled discussion times, you may want to do Steps 1-3 ahead of time.
54 Comments
Fiona Woollard
8/2/2016 08:12:55 am
I'm looking forward to seeing you at the Breastfeeding Dilemma Workshop very soon!
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Fiona Woollard
8/2/2016 10:00:36 am
I am very pleased to declare the first session of the Breastfeeding Dilemma Virtual Workshop open!
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8/2/2016 10:12:22 am
Hello ! I'm a Health Psychologist at the Uni of Southampton and am interested in developing and evaluating interventions to support and encourage health-related behaviours and emotional well-being. I'm especially interested in online interventions. For a while I've been thinking about getting involved into the field of breastfeeding support although I haven't done any research in this area yet. I'm also participating in this workshop as a mother of a 2 year old - I've got recent first hand experience of the pressure and emotions involved in choices about how to feed your infant.
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Fiona Woollard
8/2/2016 10:15:23 am
Hi Laura,
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Fiona Woollard
8/2/2016 10:24:33 am
Hi all,
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Fiona Woollard
8/2/2016 10:25:15 am
Were you surprised by Gill Thomson's evidence that new mothers feel shame about their infant feeding decisions, however they feed their infants? Does it chime with your personal or professional experience? How should we respond to this?
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Fiona Woollard
8/2/2016 10:25:49 am
Do you agree with Fiona Woollard that we mistakenly treat a new mother as required to justify any failure to do something that might benefit her child? Could the distinction between having a reason to do something and having a duty to do it help us to support breastfeeding, while recognising that guilt and shame and requirements to justify feeding decisions are unwarranted?
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Fiona Woollard
8/2/2016 10:26:25 am
Is Elselijn Kingma right that both breastfeeders and non breastfeeders feel that society is criticising them? Do you agree with her explanation that social and linguistic context can load apparently descriptive statements with normative force, so that "Breastfeeding has some benefits" is heard as "You must breastfeed."? How can respond to this?
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Fiona Woollard
8/2/2016 10:26:58 am
Is Heather Trickey right that an ecological perspective, looking at whether, why and how multiple factors relating to the wider physical, legal, commercial, economic and social environments within which women reside are (or are not) integrated with infant feeding policy, could help depolarise debate on infant feeding?
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8/2/2016 10:36:04 am
Hi Fiona
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Fiona Woollard
8/2/2016 10:42:41 am
Wow! This really sounds like something worth exploring further. It sounds like there could be so many benefits to online interventions for mums.
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Fiona Woollard
8/2/2016 10:46:08 am
Oh, and I didn't reply to your comment about interventions for people other than mothers. Absolutely agree with that! I think there are a few different groups:
Fiona Woollard
8/2/2016 10:47:36 am
Oh - and sorry about small box! This is the first virtual workshop I've run so I am still trying to test things out. Don't worry - your post was really easy to follow.
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Heather Neil
8/2/2016 10:56:58 am
Hi. Really interesting questions. I am a recently retired long serving bfc and tutor with NCT and under my professional name Heather Welford a writer/journo with a lot of infant feeding publications.
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Heather Neil
8/2/2016 11:00:29 am
I should add that the mothers who struggle against criticism and ridicule don't often shout about it. I have only rarely seen comments on line from them. I know they exist because of my work as a bfc and peer supporter trainer. They are largely hidden from view :(
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Fiona Woollard
8/2/2016 11:01:56 am
Hi Heather. Thanks for joining us!
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Fiona Woollard
8/2/2016 11:08:11 am
That idea of an important group hidden from view is such an interesting point. 8/2/2016 11:10:47 am
I agree that reaching people in the mother's social network is really important. All of the groups that Fiona suggests are likely to be influential. I'm not sure i have a clear idea yet of who would be the most important to prioritise as recipients of any intervention
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Fiona Woollard
8/2/2016 11:18:26 am
Oh there is so much I agree with in this comment that I don't know where to start!
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Heather Neil
8/2/2016 11:26:06 am
Interesting points, Laura. I do think the online world is massively important. I have seen horrid comments about formula feeders which I doubt people would say in real life. I have also seen equally awful ones about breastfeeders. As you say, mothers are immersed in the online world of pregnancy and parenting even before they're pregnant. They know the parameters of the issues very well.
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Fiona Woollard
8/2/2016 11:38:48 am
Yes. I think the online environment really amplifies hostility on both sides.
Heather Neil
8/2/2016 11:18:52 am
Re the invisible would-be breastfeeders: I was struck a few years ago when I heard Mike woolridge talk about some research he'd done with mothers from demographics who generally don't breastfeed. For many of them, debates about 'breastfeeding in public' are irrelevant. Because to some women, 'public' is their own home - where family and friends may be there the whole time. Many women in non supportive situations have to be quite strong, quite feisty, to even try breastfeeding. This is why, I think, some of the mothers who come forward to be peer supporters are highly vocal and confident - sometimes they have to even tone it down a bit to not overwhelm more tentative mothers.
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Fiona Woollard
8/2/2016 11:22:46 am
That makes so much sense! I hadn't put those two issues together before but they make so much sense.
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Claire Partridge
8/2/2016 11:26:00 am
Hi, I'm a member of non-academic staff at UoS and currently on maternity leave with my first baby who is 6 months old and breastfed.
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Fiona Woollard
8/2/2016 11:27:01 am
I've thought of another group: the general public.
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Fiona Woollard
8/2/2016 11:32:50 am
Hi Claire
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Claire Partridge
8/2/2016 11:36:27 am
Thanks! Yes - it's that question of how much pain/discomfort to expect in the early days. I know one mum who stopped breastfeeding on day 5 as her breasts became big and hard and she thought she was getting mastitis, so stopped and switched to formula. It seems more likely to me that it was her milk coming in, but she clearly wasn't expecting that.
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Fiona Woollard
8/2/2016 11:45:11 am
Yes. I had loads of trouble establishing breastfeeding with my daughter (first child), but my son fed like a dream. Everyone who looked said it was a perfect latch. But he was such a greedy guts that things still got rather nasty for a while.
Fiona Woollard
8/2/2016 11:55:35 am
Thanks everyone for a great discussion with some really interesting points! I'm going to head off for a run / lunch break now, but will be popping back throughout the day and will be here from 4pm - 5pm GMT for the next scheduled session.
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Lyndsey Davis
8/2/2016 12:27:36 pm
Hello there,
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Heather Neil
8/2/2016 01:05:24 pm
Oh my goodness. Lyndsey :( :( :(.
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Fiona Woollard
8/2/2016 02:05:39 pm
Hi Lyndsey
Fiona Woollard
8/2/2016 02:10:21 pm
Something a bit odd is happening with the order of the comments,but I wanted to add to my response to Lyndsey:
Lyndsey Davis
8/2/2016 02:30:27 pm
Thanks all for your replies.
Fiona Woollard
8/2/2016 03:08:53 pm
Yes, I think you're right it is related to overcompensation and getting the balance wrong.
Laura Dennison
8/2/2016 12:43:29 pm
I've just skimmed over how the discussion continued for the last hour or so (I missed it occurring 'live').
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Fiona Woollard
8/2/2016 02:16:55 pm
Thanks Laura!
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Zena Hilton
8/2/2016 03:18:15 pm
It's really interesting, and emotional, just reading about this. It is such a hard topic. Mothers have such different experiences, even when they have had more than one child! In my experience there were 3 key points in breastfeeding: (a) day 5 when the milk comes in. If you can get through the pain of that (i'll come back to this further on!), then comes (b) trying to get out and find ways to breastfeed on the go and then (c) how long you carry on for, so that you may able to get out of the house for an evening, overnight or just to have a glass of wine!
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Fiona Woollard
8/2/2016 04:00:01 pm
Hello everyone! Welcome back to the second scheduled discussion for today's Breastfeeding Dilemma Virtual Workshop.
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Heather Neil
8/2/2016 04:16:15 pm
Some great points made already today, I think :)
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Heather Neil
8/2/2016 04:57:58 pm
Potential derailing in focussing solely on NCT (and we have had these discussions for years in NCT, trying to get it right) because NCT only reaches a minuscule proportion of mothers - don't overestimate it! We punch above our weight, for sure, but the majority of mothers will have not a clue about what NCT says about BF.
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Fiona Woollard
8/2/2016 05:11:59 pm
Yes, the importance of these wider influences is really crucial.
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Fiona Woollard
8/2/2016 05:14:35 pm
Thanks everyone for some great comments. I have to head off to pick the children up from nursery now. I might not be able to respond until later this evening (GMT). But please keep commenting and I'll reply to you as soon as I can.
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2/28/2021 04:41:25 pm
That’s a very useful information given in this blog. I am a doctor and lactation counselor based at Lucknow, India, and along with my team we are working hard to create such awareness too on breastfeeding issues. good to find such informative content like this. it will be very useful for creating awareness amongst public for breastfeeding issues.
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