Why is breastfeeding so political?

An article in the Irish Times at the end of December caused much controversy among breastfeeding mums. Mostly because of the blatant statement that said you could only breastfeed exclusively for 6 months if you had an identical wet nurse.

The article went onto to say that the World Health Organisations guidelines around breastfeeding were too stringent and not realistic.

It’s actually hard to believe the Irish Times actually chose to print the article without any feedback from mums who exclusively breastfed. Needless to say, there was an outpouring on social media from breastfeeding advocates stating how damaging the article was for mums who might be considering breastfeeding. The sad reality is that the author of the article has written many articles that have been very anti-breastfeeding and these have all been published. 

Whilst I agree that the hard reality of breastfeeding is not often discussed in media, equally the benefits of breastfeeding for both mum and baby are rarely discussed publicly. The article made me begin to question a lot of things in relation to breastfeeding. No.1 being, why is it so damn political.

I run a breastfeeding business and even I have had comments said to me openly that the name I chose for my business is not right to be used publicly. That I should stop selling nipple shields as IBCLC’s will not support my business. I even get messages about me breastfeeding my toddler and why I continue to do it.

Why does breastfeeding unleash this unnecessary wave of hysteria? I cannot find another adequate word for it! If you came down from space and tried to describe people’s reaction to breastfeeding, I am sure you would get very puzzled looks!

Let’s go back in time to understand how views on breastfeeding changed

We need to go back in time a little to understand the historical rhetoric around breastfeeding. In Victorian times, wet nurses were commonly used for the elite in society. Women obviously knew the benefits of breastfeeding but those in high society were never going to expose themselves to it. Therefore they hired wet nurses to feed their babies.

Enter the 19^th century where supplement milk is beginning to be used. Nestle first developed their breast milk substitute in 1867 and over the next 100 years or so breastfeeding starts to decline as more and more women join the workforce. 

Nestle first developed their breast milk substitute in 1867 and over the next 100 years or so breastfeeding starts to decline

Marketing efforts substantially gears up in the 1970’s and 1980’s to the point that most mums were told formula is better than breastfeeding. This, along with hospitals accepting and handing out free formula to mums, caused a spiraling decline of breastfeeding mums. And at the same time it led to a loss of breastfeeding knowledge being passed to younger generations.

In Ireland, in particular, if you chose to breastfeed your babies during that time, you were considered odd or a hippie. You were even labelled poor as you could not afford formula!

The republic of Ireland has a special relationship with formula companies with 13% of the world’s formula produced here, worth more than a €1 billion a year. It’s no surprise to find Ireland has the lowest breastfeeding rate in Europe. Just 6% of babies are being exclusively breastfed at six months, according to a Royal College of Physicians of Ireland report published in May 2021.

Societal attitudes towards breastfeeding have not gone away

Not only is the marketing of breast milk substitutes an issue, but the societal attitudes towards breastfeeding have not gone away! I meet many mums in the course of my business who tell me they are afraid to breastfeed. They know they won’t be supported and are even afraid to broach the topic with their mother or mother in-law. A lot of this comes from the fact that older generations were told formula is better than breastfeeding. So unfortunately these marketing tactics from 40 years ago are still impacting breastfeeding mums today.

I meet many mums in the course of my business who tell me, they are afraid to breastfeed.

If you want to breastfeed in today’s Irish society you need to be really determined. You need to be stubborn as hell, and not give up when everyone around you is suggesting that you are doing the wrong thing for your baby.

Even those clever formula TV advertisements will have you believing that breastfeeding is this lovely thing that you do in a sun room, looking out over a beautiful view whilst your baby latches on perfectly. When this is all mums see of breastfeeding and then their reality is vastly different, they can feel like they are failing. 

My favourite TV show promoting breastfeeding in such a normal way was the Australian show “The Letdown” on Netflix. The support group leader made such a poignant statement in one of the last episodes of the second series and I feel all new mums should understand this.

“A lot of women think they are failing when they are not, they are just not meeting these ridiculous expectations”.