Honestly, I'm sitting here reading this and pounding my fist on my desk in anger. How dare these hospitals sit in judgment of what is a very personal decision that new mothers don't make without serious thought? And don't even get me started on the Baby Talk cover. How can our culture leer at the celebrity "nip slips" on gossip blogs and then completely flip out over a (gorgeous) shot of a nursing baby where the damn nipple isn't even visible? Why is the breast celebrated as a sex organ and treated as dirty when used for its actual physiological purpose? This is limited to American culture, and I'm sick of it. I choose to breastfeed in private, but I loathe the controversy/public outrage when someone like Maggie Gyllenhaal exercises her right do to so in public. (http://celebritybabies.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/06/06/splashnews_nybpny060607a_01_cbb_3.jpg) Get the hell over it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHRyRCHuQ7g&eurl=http://thelactivist.blogspot.com/2007_03_01_archive.html

Children should decide themselves? Oh. I see. Yikes.

You forgot to mention the guilt women who choose to breastfeed feel when they can no longer nurse. I felt like a failure, and that my kid would get asthsma and alergies because I couldn't give him all the milk he needed. I'm for the public awareness campaign, but it has had a negative side effect in causing women who can't breastfeed for years (or at all) to panic. There's also the perception that LLLI has gone militant. There was a good story about it in the Trib comparing the org to PETA.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/chi-0729_deardorff_r_k_djul29,1,2593012.column

I'll disagree on the formula companies being harmless. Despite their "consessions," they are still playing dirty pool. They've been active trying to water down the Department of Health and Human services ' promotion of breastfeeding. There was an article somewhere. I'll look for it.

Thanks for the topic. I imagine most of the coverage this week will be one-sided.

No offense buddy, but spare us your righteous indignation. Unless you've been asked to leave a store for daring to feed your child in the eye-shot of selfish prudes, you can't possibly understand. This issue is much more complex than you're making it out to be. It's not just about formula versus breast milk. We still have celebrities like Barbara Walters, a woman no less, telling millions of Americans that she was disgusted by a woman breast-feeding on a plane. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48wlj1qnIp0. Where should she have gone, up into the overhead compartment or into the thimble-sized toilet with the radioactive blue deodorant puck? And I'm guessing she would have been equally put-off if the woman had let her child scream in hunger. Bitch.

The awareness week isn't just about telling moms-to-be that breastfeeding is the best choice. It's about shining the light on people who won't let those of us that DO choose to nurse act freely upon our choice. We're sick of being told we should stay home or feed our kids in the bathroom. Where hundreds of people piss and shit. Yummy.

Most of the opponents don't even know what they're talking about. Some legislator here in Ohio was all up in arms about a bill designed to guarantee moms the right to breastfeed in public. He wanted to add a clause that would protect businesses from the lawsuits that could come when people slip on milk "spillage." Breasts don't have twist-off caps, moron. So yes, I think there just may be a need for more education.

I do agree on the BabyTalk comment. One lady actually called it "gross," and another shredded the cover? Who are these women!? AAAAAAH!

This absolutely disgusts me. Over the years, I have heard many inaccuracies spread by health professionals and women affiliated with organizations like La Leche League looking to bully women into breastfeeding. I knew one person who was told by a nursing coach that if she gave her baby just one bottle of formula, it would undo all of the good that was done by breastfeeding. Obviously, that's not even reasonably logical. Also, I remember a teacher at one of my child birthing classes telling the one couple in the class who was choosing not to breastfeed, "It's okay. I didn't breastfeed my first child. I didn't know any better." Ugh.

Breastfeeding is a personal choice, and not everyone can do it. Health officials have the responsibility to disseminate information about the benefits of breastfeeding, but have NO business getting involved beyond that. What's next? Putting an added tax on formula to discourage people from buying it?

I don't think the author was arguing against the breastfeeding awareness week, but rather was speaking out about city health officials getting involved by pulling formula samples out of hospital gift bags. In fact, I think he seems to agree that women shouldn't be shunned from the public for breastfeeding (Kevin, I apologize if I am putting words in your mouth).

I'm not sure I agree that men can't have an opinion on this topic, but regardless, how do your points (well written, to boot) conflict with mine? My beef isn't with awareness week. I'm saying we need to stop beating the dead Breast milk is better! horse and start beating Barbara Walters and your Ohio legislators. The ban on free samples feels like a gimic aimed at getting ink, not helping moms. You're correct in saying this is a complicated issue. Everyone in here has brought up another facet, and all are legitimate.

Keep fighting the good fight.

I agree with the author, lactivist, and wet blanket (is that also the author?) in recognizing that the future of awareness week is more about battling intolerance and ignorance than pushing breast-feeding over formula. That switch already seems to be happening on a grassroots level.

As for Margarita's comment, while I think it's a shame that women in prenatal classes feel bullied, the facts are the facts. Just because you have the choice to smoke doesn't mean that medical experts should water down their advice to keep you from feeling bad. The same thing applies here. Women who can't breastfeed, that's different. But deciding not to because it's inconvenient or uncomfortable... that's negligent. I know comment will piss people off, but parenting is hard, and sometimes the easier choice for the mom isn't the best for the baby. We shouldn't kid ourselves. That's not to say I agree with medical professionals lying to encourage people to nurse. They shouldn't need to.

I know it's hard... I've breastfed three kids, two of them twins. I cried many nights over it, dealt with bloody nipples and clogged milk ducts, and got punched in the face constantly by flailing limbs. And as much as I wanted to convince myself that I could make the informed choice to stop, that it was my body and my right, it ended up feeling like a selfish decision. If you make the commitment to have kids, you need to make the commitment to give them every possible benefit available. This isn't an issue about women's rights. It's one of parental responsibility. And sometimes, like with smoking, guilt and shame is what it takes to push you to do what's best for your loved ones.

I'm not sure I agree with "you’ve beaten the formula peddlers already" statement. Yes, the recent reports show that breastfeeding is on the increase but there is a question about how long women are breastfeeding for, "But many women did not stick exclusively to breast-feeding in the first months after birth as recommended by experts, turning instead to baby formula..."
Yes, breastfeeding is obviously an intimate and personal choice, but there is no denying that breastfeeding is healthier for mother and child - and I don't think that's a dead horse we're flogging. If it was clear that breast milk is better than Barbara Walters wouldn't even be allowed to say what she said!

but, Carter-Ann, are those women stopping early because they don't know the added benefit of continuing on? I think the women know about the additional value, but they want their lives and bodies back, and they figure they've put in enough time not to feel guilty. Selfish as Lactose Intolerant says that is (and maybe she's right), these are women who may not have breastfed at all a decade ago. They're compromising by nursing for awhile to give their kids those initial benefits, but eventually the realities of their lives kick in. They want to be spontaneous again. They want to have a drink again. Whatever the case may be. For us, maternity leave ended, and milk production dropped until my wife just couldn't exclusively breast-feed. Then, as all the articles say, the more you use breast-milk in bottles or formula supplements, the less milk you produce. Many professional women just can't breastfeed for a year given their work obligations. My wife would have loved to, but she just couldn't. And until America gets the 6 months maternity other countries are cool with, this will be a major barrier.

Lastly, Barbara didn't argue that breast milk isn't better. She was uncomfortable seeing an exposed breast in public. That's a cultural problem, not an educational one.

How is a hospital's refusal to put formula in gift bags any different than a hospital refusing to serve McDonalds through room service? Fast food is nutritionally inferior, even dangerous. If guests bring it to patients, the hospital doesn't confiscate it, but they do refuse to promote, even by association, unhealthy eating. That's all this is, right?

Oh, give me a break. You can't possibly compare formula to McDonald's on the nutritional deficiency scale. Formula isn't made from battery acid. To say that it's in any way dangerous is irresponsible and uninformed. Yes, the research shows that breast milk is the best option, but no one has EVER said that formula is dangerous. I was born in an era when breastfeeding was for Woodstock ticket holders and new mothers were given a shot in the hospital to prevent lactation from starting. So I was fed nothing but formula and I lived to tell the tale. My IQ is high, I don't have asthma, and I don't think I've ever had an ear infection. Am I still breastfeeding my own five month old? Yes. I know it's the best option. But I no longer exclusively breastfeed and rely on the occasional bottle of formula to fill the gap because I can't sit in my office pumping all day. I breastfed my first until she was six months old, and then turned to formula, and she shows no signs of being on the bullet train to diabetes or whatever you're attempting to imply with your lame McDonald's analogy. This whole thing with the gift bags is insane. So the hospitals are fine providing formula to feed the infants while they're staying there, and yet they won't provide product samples or coupons to their moms when they leave? If they're going to be on such a damn judgmental high horse, I'm surprised they aren't all "bring your own formula" for the new moms who are planning not to breastfeed.

Yes, formula is not as unhealthy as McDonalds but I think Amy's comparison gets right to the point. In this case endorsement of formula can be seen as promotion.

Steffi, I was told to bring my own diapers even though I had an emergency, unscheduled c-section and was somehow expected to magically produce diapers in the middle of the night. I thought that my hospital would be able to provide at least one. I don't think mothers who formula feed should be expected to bring their own formula, of course not, but it's not as if hospitals provide the necessities at all times.

Wet Blanket, I know the reasons why mothers stop breastfeeding are numerous and often extremely justified. My issue is not "how dare these horrible mothers give their children poisin in a bottle!!" (I'm being sarcastic here in case you didn't get that...). The post title is Get Your Grubby Little Cause off My Wife's Boobs - so what about getting those grubby little marketing strategies off my boobs?

You say that Walter's statement is a cultural promblem, not an educational one. But the two are interlinked to some extent. Public breastfeeding issues don't just have to do with people's sensitivity to partially exposed breasts, but also the acceptance that breastfeeding is healthy and not just some hippy-tree hugger earth momma hobby.

I find the discussion fascinating, but not for most of the reasons expressed so far. I can't imagine the personal connection, the emotional impact and deep convictions women and mothers have to something so singular and intimate. I'm a man, and my perspective is limited on this.

What does interest me, is why anybody would see breastfeeding as "disgusting" (eg., Ms. Walters). Have we so plasticized and objectified women that anything "natural" (rather than "produced") seems vile? We are "fine" when women are exposed in pornography and fed upon visually...but repulsed when exposed in public for a natural feeding that isn't about "use" or consumption?

I think the issue is a broad cultural one: we might not be sure how to "deal with" (appreciate, absorb, process) a woman who breaks the cultural role of "thing" and proudly re-establishes herself as a natural being. Men can be "animals"...but not women?

The philosopher George Santayana wrote extensively about the need for us to "re-animate" ourselves...to get back to our senses as animals...as a tonic to the dehumanization of the modern age. Maybe breast feeding, natural and common as it should be, is a bit of social rebellion that is much needed?

I thought it was getting bad here... In the UK, there's a tobacco-like total ban of formula advertising for children under six months, and many pro-breast-feeding orgs are crying foul after some celebritart named Jordan was pictured bottle-feeding her 5-week old during Breastfeeding Week.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/health/article2211374.ece

The celeb is quoted in an article saying “It’s brilliant. I have 20 crates of teats and bottles. I don’t have to sterilize or heat anything, you literally take the teat out, screw it on, and throw it away. I don’t care what people say; you don’t have to breast-feed,? she said. •I don’t want a baby drinking from me.?

I'm not sure how popular this gal is across the pond, but this quote makes her come off like Briteny Spears, who few consult for parenting advice... "I don't want A BABY drinking from me?" You mean your baby? I'm surprised she didn't say 'it'.

Regarding Jordan, you have to keep in mind that she is one of the most famous victims of breast implant addiction. She couldn't possibly breast feed, even if she wanted to. And as for other discussions here, I am very pro-breast feeding, but don't think Enfamil and Similac (even better than Enfamil) need to be treated like pariahs. Very few women are able to breast feed exclusively. High-end formulas are just fine for babies. Yes, breast milk is better. But just like the regular Sunkist isn't as good as the organic orange, it's still a great dietary choice.

This only seems off-topic.

So, when I was growing up my mom would never buy Nestlé Quick, no matter how much I loved that bunny on the plastic box. She said it had something to do with a boycott, and babies in Africa--like the grapes, but different.

Go ahead: google "Nestle Boycott" or read { http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nestlé_boycott }.

The Nestle boycott example was used in Marketing Ethics unit I had in college. I read a lot about it before I wrote the piece, hence the comment about this not being Mozambique. Truly despicable, though I'll bet most people have no idea it happened...

http://blogs.clubmom.com/daily_dose/2007/08/blogger-takes-o.html

Ah, Jordan... otherwise known as Katie Price, and has a show in the states called 'Kate & Peter' on MTV I think. She's a topless model (a few years back), who married a early 90's one-hit wonder and is famous for her gigantic fake boobs. She is also as dumb as a post and really not worth paying any attention too! I have a four month old son who I'm nursing, and I'm back at work so am pumping milk for him to have during the day - from a bottle from his stay-at-home Dad. I had to pump exclusively for the first month of his life as he was in the NICU and unable to latch on. I've perservered and don't intend to give up breastfeeding just because some dopey English slapper (by the way, I'm an ex-pat living in Oregon now) says so. Feeding in public is fine... when I do it you see less boob than you see these days from your average teenager. People need to get over themselves!

Jeez, it is ridiculous move and purely economic in nature-not for the formula companies but for public assistance. As county hospitals are located in poorer sections of the city and their patients usually rely on Medicaid and WIC for themselves and their children, the government doesn't want to pay for formula if it doesn't have to--thus the push for breastfeeding and pulling samples. I take any samples and formula coupons and donate them to a women's home.

What is next, pulling the disposable diaper samples? That is another debate...

I have a wonderful, healthy 13 month old who was never ill until he got a minor cold when he was 11 months old. He's very well developed and can already say 15 words! However, I could not breast feed for medical reasons, and he was a formula fed baby all the way. Obviously all formula fed babies aren't sickly little beings with severely diminished intelligence.

When he was a tiny baby, I would always take him with me when I had to run errands. And, of course, I would eventually have to give him a bottle in public. I was always amazed at how many women would actually talk to me about the benefits of breast milk and tell me that I should really give it a try because I may like it. I'm still miffed that so many people really don't think before they speak--I felt horrible that I physically couldn't breast feed and I was made to feel like I shouldn't have had a child if I didn't have functional breasts. Eventually the guilt that I felt turned into anger. How dare these people pass judgment on someone they don't even know!

Postpartum depression is a reality, and I know that all of this pro-breast feeding propaganda that was piled upon me even before I had my baby really made it that much worse. I'm so lucky that I have a loving, caring husband and a supportive group of friends and family that helped me realize that my inability to breast feed had no impact on the level of care and love that I had to offer to my child.

Yanking these formula samples, while technically not a big deal, can be construed as a smack in the face to all the women who are like me, and there are a good many of us. Mothers need support on an individual level, not made to feel that they have to fit into this tiny cookie cutter role. For some, breast feeding is not a choice, end of discussion. People need to be more sensitive to this, and realize that more babies die from shaken baby syndrome, sids and neglect than they do from not being breast fed. This whole discussion is ridiculous, and I don't understand why you can't simply give new and expecting mothers the educational materials on the benefits of breast milk and leave the rest to them. If you try to force your beliefs on another person, you're running the risk of lowering their confidence that they can be good mothers, and this will do far more harm than it will good.