David (Koch) ... the dinosaur!

So 100 mums did as promised and breastfed their babies outside the Sunrise studios in Sydney’s Martin Place at 7am this morning. The posters they displayed and the online comments made interesting reading ...“I prioritise my child’s needs over the attitudes of dinosaurs”,“you are a Neanderthal sir!”, “Where's the radio button on the poll for 'Do you think Kochie is an idiot for his remarks?'"                                                                                                                   Not all condemned David Koch however, some in fact agreed with him and thought the women were “militant” and “creating a storm in a teacup.” 

To me, the saddest thing is that there is any comment at all. When a significant proportion of the population fails to see a woman breastfeeding her baby as an absolutely normal activity, wherever that activity might be taking place, what hope do future generations have of their birthright - their mother’s breastmilk? 

NORMAL, but seriously threatened

Infant formula continues to intrude on and disturb my state of equilibrium. It’s the news that China’s hell-bent embrace of Western habits and products now includes an almost unqualified embrace of infant formula. Euromonitor states that China “continues to hold the fate of global baby milk formula in its hands.” The market is predicted to expand to $25 billion by 2017, driven by working women in China and their reluctance to breastfeed.

Having tried with no success (so far) to interest several Chinese entities in the promotion of “healthy parents, healthy baby” (which of course includes the promotion of breastfeeding), through well-established online and retail channels, I know I’m up against it. China has a population of 1 billion, so that means an awful lot of babies and the commercial returns for companies selling infant formula are potentially massive, especially for those providing a clean, green product. Infant formula companies floating on Asian stock exchanges are giving shareholders unheard of returns, takeovers in the infant formula arena are also generating eye-popping figures.

What to do? Just hope that in the helter-skelter embrace of infant formula that will be accompanied by compromises in physical, mental and emotional development, there remain enlightened, committed, attached, nurturing and nursing Asian mothers. I know they’re out their somewhere, may their numbers grow and may their influence spread.

Breastfeeding, not BEST, just NORMAL

I had dinner with an old friend recently. I met Margaret Grove way back when I was a brand new mum and attending Nursing Mothers meetings. Margaret now holds a key post at Australian Breastfeeding Association and as you might expect, our conversation turned to the current breastfeeding rates. In Australia, these are static at around 30 percent at 6 months, falling to a very disappointing 10 percent at 12 months. This despite the WHO recommendations for a minimum breastfeeding period of 2 years.

We pondered the many reasons, the failures of so many in the healthcare system, the rise and rise of the commercial 'alternatives', but also reflected on the new approach which is to emphasise the normality of breastfeeding. After all, breast is the default way of feeding mammals so breast or the bottle should never be a simple choice, even though the formula manufacturers have done their best to make it so. We should never have to read nonsense about breastfeeding being ‘better’, nor do we need any more studies showing its ‘benefits’. Infant formula was designed for those rare occasions when Nature fails, but just as IVF and C-secs were designed as similar last-resorts, the man-made, emergency, fall-back positions are embraced far too frequently and as if they were simple equivalents. The fact of the matter is, they are not!

Support and encourage the normality of breastfeeding - lead by example. Nurse your baby or toddler whenever and wherever and so others will see you!