Lactivists are shocked, shocked that anyone might think that there is a war going on over infant feeding.
Casey Rosen-Carole, MD of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine (ABM) insists:
I am therefore saddened that media discourse on breastfeeding continues to undermine women by putting forth articles supporting the notion that a battleground exists between mothers…
How could formula feeding mothers have gotten the idea there is a breastfeeding war going on?
[pullquote align=”right” color=”#b44800″]Imagine if a hospital that treated gay people designated itself “traditional marriage friendly.”[/pullquote]
- Maybe it’s because lactivists ignore what women tell them about breastfeeding difficulties and insist that they must be doing it wrong.
- Maybe it’s because lactivists ignore what women tell them about breastfeeding difficulties and insist that they aren’t getting enough support.
- Maybe it’s because lactivists ignore what women tell them about breastfeeding difficulties and insist that formula companies are undermining breastfeeding.
- Maybe it’s because lactivists ignore what women tell them about feeling shamed and blamed and lactivists deny it.
- Maybe it’s because lactivists ignore what women tell them about feeling shamed and blamed and lactivists insist the media has made it up.
But there’s something very simple that they could do to dispel the belief that they are shaming and cruel, clinging desperately to the notion that breastfeeding makes them better mothers than women who don’t breastfeeding:
They could change the name of the “Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative” to the “Breastfeeding Friendly Hospital Initiative”.
What is the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI)?
The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI) is a global program … to encourage and recognize hospitals and birthing centers that offer an optimal level of care for infant feeding and mother/baby bonding. It recognizes and awards birthing facilities who successfully implement the Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding and the International Code of Marketing of Breast-milk Substitutes.
In other words, it is an organization designed to promote breastfeeding.
If it’s supposed to promote breastfeeding, why is it called “baby friendly”? It’s called “baby friendly” as a deliberate slap in the face to women who choose formula.
Imagine if a rehabilitation facility that treated people in wheelchairs designated itself “walking friendly.”
Imagine if a hospital that treated gay people designated itself “traditional marriage friendly.”
Or how about a weight loss camp that called itself “thin friendly”?
I suspect most people would have no trouble recognizing the designations as deliberate attempts at shaming.
The ABM tweeted this quote from Dr. Melissa Bartick:
Let’s replace zeaolotry with compassion and understanding, and meet every mom where she it.
Compassion?
How compassionate is it to label a breastfeeding initiative “baby-friendly”? It’s not compassionate. It’s humiliating and that’s no accident.
Lactivists need to change the BFHI to the “breastfeeding friendly hospital initiative.” It’s easy; it’s a sign of a commitment to end the breastfeeding wars; and they won’t even have to change the initials of the program.
The next step?
End all punitive hospital practices: no more locking up formula, no more making women sign releases attesting to the superiority of breastmilk in order to obtain formula, no more banning of formula gifts (a ban that hurts the poor and women of color more than anyone else).
I’m not holding my breath. Lactivism represents a last bastion of socially sanctioned bullying. Lactivists are enjoying every delicious opportunity to proclaim their superiority over women who choose (or are forced by medical circumstances to choose) infant formula.
But as long as the BFHI is designated “baby friendly,” all pious attempts to deny or decry the breastfeeding wars will be nothing more than hypocrisy.
