Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps unsurprising, given I delivered at a "baby-friendly" hospital, I just got a lot of reading materials that shamed any woman for ever having a moment of doubt about exclusively breastfeeding.

This included a pamphlet on information about "feeding options" that went on at length about how to pump safely store breastmilk but didn't once mention anything about how to best/most safely use formula.

I'm sure that withholding of information will be of great help to the women without paid leave, workplace support to pump (lets face it, the ACA protections on that front as well as PUMP can only do so much), and at wits end to take care of their new baby. Or for women who cannot, or do not want to, breastfeed for whatever reason.

Anyways, I didn't get anything from my OB.

This is so dumb. Breastfeeding is a universally unknown thing until you have a baby and every woman lactates, for how long and how much depends on the woman and how much support she has. The hospital was clearly trying to offer support for one of the toughest things *all women* find themselves suddenly figuring out.

You clearly have some unresolved issues you should work through if you feel attacked receiving generic pamphlets on lactation.

I actually asked my midwife if I should buy some formula ahead of time in case I couldn’t make enough milk. She said studies show that having samples in the home make it less like a woman can successfully BF. I would have held into free samples if I’d received them, but I did not. Purely anecdotal but I ended up having no supply problems.

I'm so glad that the pendulum has swayed back to "fed is best". When I had my first child, I really struggled to get her weight up and was never offered formula as an option. When I look back at pictures of how tiny she was, I am shocked! Breastfeeding was pushed and pushed and lactation consultant after lactation consultant and breast pump after breast pump. I was miserable for a year trying to keep my baby's weight up. With #2, I still wasn't producing enough and the hospital gave me formula samples and said "don't kill yourself. Supplement with 1-2 ounces after you nurse if you think she needs it". I'm so glad. My child was healthy, and I was happy.

+1

I really struggled with our first too. Even though I knew supplementing was likely getting to the point of necessity, I really struggled with the guilt for awhile. But the truth was that I became a happier person overall and was able to enjoy my baby more once we introduced formula. With our second, I used both breastmilk and formula from basically day one and it worked great. I did have to tell one particularly aggressive nurse to back off in the hospital, which I'm not sure I would have had the confidence to do as a FTM.

One of my close friends was having a really hard time with breastfeeding and cried with relief when I told her I had used formula--she had been feeling like a terrible mother for "failing" at breastfeeding. It's awful the messages some women are getting hit over the head with and internalizing, even though I also think helping and supporting women who breastfeed is super important too!

I really get the arguments here against samples during a shortage, that makes sense to me. Both my OB and kids' pediatrician offers samples to those who want them; I'd definitely want those going to people most in-need. But while I have also read that having samples around make it more likely a woman will supplement, I guess at the end of the day that I don't really think that it is some horrific outcome that a woman has the option to choose to do so.

Agreed. My objection is on formula for people who won’t use it in a time when others struggle to get it— and again when the federal government guidance was “call your pediatrician and request samples”— and that I think it’s weird for the OB to just hand stuff out for a patient she’ll never see. Plenty of kids need a specific formula and 10 samples of soy is better for them than 1000 samples of regular, which their pediatrician will be best suited to know.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps unsurprising, given I delivered at a "baby-friendly" hospital, I just got a lot of reading materials that shamed any woman for ever having a moment of doubt about exclusively breastfeeding.

This included a pamphlet on information about "feeding options" that went on at length about how to pump safely store breastmilk but didn't once mention anything about how to best/most safely use formula.

I'm sure that withholding of information will be of great help to the women without paid leave, workplace support to pump (lets face it, the ACA protections on that front as well as PUMP can only do so much), and at wits end to take care of their new baby. Or for women who cannot, or do not want to, breastfeed for whatever reason.

Anyways, I didn't get anything from my OB.

This is so dumb. Breastfeeding is a universally unknown thing until you have a baby and every woman lactates, for how long and how much depends on the woman and how much support she has. The hospital was clearly trying to offer support for one of the toughest things *all women* find themselves suddenly figuring out.

You clearly have some unresolved issues you should work through if you feel attacked receiving generic pamphlets on lactation.

I actually asked my midwife if I should buy some formula ahead of time in case I couldn’t make enough milk. She said studies show that having samples in the home make it less like a woman can successfully BF. I would have held into free samples if I’d received them, but I did not. Purely anecdotal but I ended up having no supply problems.

I'm so glad that the pendulum has swayed back to "fed is best". When I had my first child, I really struggled to get her weight up and was never offered formula as an option. When I look back at pictures of how tiny she was, I am shocked! Breastfeeding was pushed and pushed and lactation consultant after lactation consultant and breast pump after breast pump. I was miserable for a year trying to keep my baby's weight up. With #2, I still wasn't producing enough and the hospital gave me formula samples and said "don't kill yourself. Supplement with 1-2 ounces after you nurse if you think she needs it". I'm so glad. My child was healthy, and I was happy.

+1

I really struggled with our first too. Even though I knew supplementing was likely getting to the point of necessity, I really struggled with the guilt for awhile. But the truth was that I became a happier person overall and was able to enjoy my baby more once we introduced formula. With our second, I used both breastmilk and formula from basically day one and it worked great. I did have to tell one particularly aggressive nurse to back off in the hospital, which I'm not sure I would have had the confidence to do as a FTM.

One of my close friends was having a really hard time with breastfeeding and cried with relief when I told her I had used formula--she had been feeling like a terrible mother for "failing" at breastfeeding. It's awful the messages some women are getting hit over the head with and internalizing, even though I also think helping and supporting women who breastfeed is super important too!

I really get the arguments here against samples during a shortage, that makes sense to me. Both my OB and kids' pediatrician offers samples to those who want them; I'd definitely want those going to people most in-need. But while I have also read that having samples around make it more likely a woman will supplement, I guess at the end of the day that I don't really think that it is some horrific outcome that a woman has the option to choose to do so.

Anonymous wrote:I would be concerned if my OB's office was passing along all that crap from companies -- it's a marketing ploy and I'd have to wonder what products/services my OB was pushing because of the kickbacks they receive from these companies.

+1, especially considering again it’s a product for a patient the OB never sees…

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps unsurprising, given I delivered at a "baby-friendly" hospital, I just got a lot of reading materials that shamed any woman for ever having a moment of doubt about exclusively breastfeeding.

This included a pamphlet on information about "feeding options" that went on at length about how to pump safely store breastmilk but didn't once mention anything about how to best/most safely use formula.

I'm sure that withholding of information will be of great help to the women without paid leave, workplace support to pump (lets face it, the ACA protections on that front as well as PUMP can only do so much), and at wits end to take care of their new baby. Or for women who cannot, or do not want to, breastfeed for whatever reason.

Anyways, I didn't get anything from my OB.

This is so dumb. Breastfeeding is a universally unknown thing until you have a baby and every woman lactates, for how long and how much depends on the woman and how much support she has. The hospital was clearly trying to offer support for one of the toughest things *all women* find themselves suddenly figuring out.

You clearly have some unresolved issues you should work through if you feel attacked receiving generic pamphlets on lactation.

Oh, and not *all women* breastfeed. While every new mother may begin lactating, that can be a very short amount of time--so information on storage, promoting supply, etc. is not necessary.

Lady you need a gummy

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps unsurprising, given I delivered at a "baby-friendly" hospital, I just got a lot of reading materials that shamed any woman for ever having a moment of doubt about exclusively breastfeeding.

This included a pamphlet on information about "feeding options" that went on at length about how to pump safely store breastmilk but didn't once mention anything about how to best/most safely use formula.

I'm sure that withholding of information will be of great help to the women without paid leave, workplace support to pump (lets face it, the ACA protections on that front as well as PUMP can only do so much), and at wits end to take care of their new baby. Or for women who cannot, or do not want to, breastfeed for whatever reason.

Anyways, I didn't get anything from my OB.

This is so dumb. Breastfeeding is a universally unknown thing until you have a baby and every woman lactates, for how long and how much depends on the woman and how much support she has. The hospital was clearly trying to offer support for one of the toughest things *all women* find themselves suddenly figuring out.

You clearly have some unresolved issues you should work through if you feel attacked receiving generic pamphlets on lactation.

I actually asked my midwife if I should buy some formula ahead of time in case I couldn’t make enough milk. She said studies show that having samples in the home make it less like a woman can successfully BF. I would have held into free samples if I’d received them, but I did not. Purely anecdotal but I ended up having no supply problems.

I'm so glad that the pendulum has swayed back to "fed is best". When I had my first child, I really struggled to get her weight up and was never offered formula as an option. When I look back at pictures of how tiny she was, I am shocked! Breastfeeding was pushed and pushed and lactation consultant after lactation consultant and breast pump after breast pump. I was miserable for a year trying to keep my baby's weight up. With #2, I still wasn't producing enough and the hospital gave me formula samples and said "don't kill yourself. Supplement with 1-2 ounces after you nurse if you think she needs it". I'm so glad. My child was healthy, and I was happy.

I would be concerned if my OB's office was passing along all that crap from companies -- it's a marketing ploy and I'd have to wonder what products/services my OB was pushing because of the kickbacks they receive from these companies.

My gift bag was that my OB/GYN stopped being and OB, about a month before I was due to give mirth.

OMG, millennial entitlement at its worst!!

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps unsurprising, given I delivered at a "baby-friendly" hospital, I just got a lot of reading materials that shamed any woman for ever having a moment of doubt about exclusively breastfeeding.

This included a pamphlet on information about "feeding options" that went on at length about how to pump safely store breastmilk but didn't once mention anything about how to best/most safely use formula.

I'm sure that withholding of information will be of great help to the women without paid leave, workplace support to pump (lets face it, the ACA protections on that front as well as PUMP can only do so much), and at wits end to take care of their new baby. Or for women who cannot, or do not want to, breastfeed for whatever reason.

Anyways, I didn't get anything from my OB.

This is so dumb. Breastfeeding is a universally unknown thing until you have a baby and every woman lactates, for how long and how much depends on the woman and how much support she has. The hospital was clearly trying to offer support for one of the toughest things *all women* find themselves suddenly figuring out.

You clearly have some unresolved issues you should work through if you feel attacked receiving generic pamphlets on lactation.

I actually asked my midwife if I should buy some formula ahead of time in case I couldn’t make enough milk. She said studies show that having samples in the home make it less like a woman can successfully BF. I would have held into free samples if I’d received them, but I did not. Purely anecdotal but I ended up having no supply problems.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps unsurprising, given I delivered at a "baby-friendly" hospital, I just got a lot of reading materials that shamed any woman for ever having a moment of doubt about exclusively breastfeeding.

This included a pamphlet on information about "feeding options" that went on at length about how to pump safely store breastmilk but didn't once mention anything about how to best/most safely use formula.

I'm sure that withholding of information will be of great help to the women without paid leave, workplace support to pump (lets face it, the ACA protections on that front as well as PUMP can only do so much), and at wits end to take care of their new baby. Or for women who cannot, or do not want to, breastfeed for whatever reason.

Anyways, I didn't get anything from my OB.

This is so dumb. Breastfeeding is a universally unknown thing until you have a baby and every woman lactates, for how long and how much depends on the woman and how much support she has. The hospital was clearly trying to offer support for one of the toughest things *all women* find themselves suddenly figuring out.

You clearly have some unresolved issues you should work through if you feel attacked receiving generic pamphlets on lactation.

Oh, and not *all women* breastfeed. While every new mother may begin lactating, that can be a very short amount of time--so information on storage, promoting supply, etc. is not necessary.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Perhaps unsurprising, given I delivered at a "baby-friendly" hospital, I just got a lot of reading materials that shamed any woman for ever having a moment of doubt about exclusively breastfeeding.

This included a pamphlet on information about "feeding options" that went on at length about how to pump safely store breastmilk but didn't once mention anything about how to best/most safely use formula.

I'm sure that withholding of information will be of great help to the women without paid leave, workplace support to pump (lets face it, the ACA protections on that front as well as PUMP can only do so much), and at wits end to take care of their new baby. Or for women who cannot, or do not want to, breastfeed for whatever reason.

Anyways, I didn't get anything from my OB.

This is so dumb. Breastfeeding is a universally unknown thing until you have a baby and every woman lactates, for how long and how much depends on the woman and how much support she has. The hospital was clearly trying to offer support for one of the toughest things *all women* find themselves suddenly figuring out.

You clearly have some unresolved issues you should work through if you feel attacked receiving generic pamphlets on lactation.

I think you need to read my post closer. My point was that the brochures only contained information about breastfeeding, as opposed to also including any information about formula feeding. That biased information also had some pretty out-there rhetoric that read as shaming anyone who could not/did not want to breastfeed. I thought that approach and lack of balance in the information could have a lot of potentially harmful impacts (especially for someone struggling with all the shame that comes from not breastfeeding).

The focus on breastfeeding has gone to an extreme, I'm surprised anyone would argue against that. We need to make sure everyone has the option and support to breastfeed, no question. Past debate that the disparities in breastfeeding are the direct result of terrible policy decisions and must be addressed. At the same time, many recent studies show that the benefits are overstated or too strongly associated to other social determinants of health to stand on their own and, apart from that, it is clear that formula can be--at times, literally--lifesaving.

Regardless, we just need to focus on supporting new moms.