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This is a remarkable paper...for all the wrong reasons
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/mcn.13109
Written by a group of breastfeeding researchers about the challenges they face advocating breastfeeding on social media
Get yourself ready for some seriously BAD science ...
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/mcn.13109
Written by a group of breastfeeding researchers about the challenges they face advocating breastfeeding on social media
Get yourself ready for some seriously BAD science ...
The paper starts as almost all papers about breastfeeding start with a wholehearted endorsement of the many purported health benefits of breastfeeding and widespread recommendations to breastfeed ...
But alas, alack... when they start to discuss their research on social media they encounter opposition supposedly because people who disagree with them are so EMOTIONAL!
Hang on, haven’t I heard that before.. women being dismissed for being EMOTIONAL ... hmmm... misogyny 101
Hang on, haven’t I heard that before.. women being dismissed for being EMOTIONAL ... hmmm... misogyny 101
So they got together with parents with a range of infant feeding experiences and feelings about them and tried to understand the full range and diversity of family experience and how their research communications affect the families they are supposed to help...
Nah... don’t be stupid. Of course not.
They got together with each other and decided that their critics were breastfeeding denialists and decided amongst themselves how the problem of the EMOTIONAL women on the loose on social media should be handled...
They got together with each other and decided that their critics were breastfeeding denialists and decided amongst themselves how the problem of the EMOTIONAL women on the loose on social media should be handled...
But their own paper highlights a problem that so called “breastfeeding denialists” have drawn attention to.
The research on the health effects of breastfeeding is far more equivocal than the claims made. And damnit, these EMOTIONAL WOMEN are disputing the claims made
The research on the health effects of breastfeeding is far more equivocal than the claims made. And damnit, these EMOTIONAL WOMEN are disputing the claims made
It isn’t people questioning the strength of claims made on the basis of equivocal evidence that erode trust in scientists and health professionals making claims. You undermine yourself by making strong claims in the absence of strong evidence.
And while we are on the subject of unsubstantiated claims ....
People in glass houses should not throw stones. Please. Get your own houses in order first.
People in glass houses should not throw stones. Please. Get your own houses in order first.
So apparently negative personal experiences with breastfeeding fuel ‘breastfeeding denialism’...
There is no definition of ‘breastfeeding denialism’. Does it come from not meeting ‘breastfeeding goals’ (an ill-defined concept in itself)...
There is no definition of ‘breastfeeding denialism’. Does it come from not meeting ‘breastfeeding goals’ (an ill-defined concept in itself)...
Or from ‘disempowering’ interactions with HCPS... you mean like where they tell us how amazing the benefits of breastmilk are when any of us with a modicum of science education knows that these are being pretty grossly exaggerated?
But don’t worry.... they want to research how to bottle feed... just in case we haven’t worked it out for ourselves.
But here’s what they don’t mention...
Women stop breastfeeding because of pain, latching difficulties and low milk supply
https://files.digital.nhs.uk/publicationimport/pub08xxx/pub08694/infant-feeding-survey-2010-consolidated-report.pdf
No need to pay attention to negative experiences of breastfeeding or consider that these adverse effects may outweigh any benefits
Women stop breastfeeding because of pain, latching difficulties and low milk supply
https://files.digital.nhs.uk/publicationimport/pub08xxx/pub08694/infant-feeding-survey-2010-consolidated-report.pdf
No need to pay attention to negative experiences of breastfeeding or consider that these adverse effects may outweigh any benefits
They don’t mention that the recent review of the NICE guidelines into postnatal care looked at evidence re how to help people with breastfeeding and found pretty much no good evidence to inform how common problems can be prevented or resolved
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/gid-ng10070/documents/evidence-review-17
https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/gid-ng10070/documents/evidence-review-17
In fact, at no point do they consider that research efforts might focus on helping women with these clinical problems.
They don’t mention that exclusive breastfeeding which is now pretty much universally promoted is a risk factor for infants requiring readmission for treatment of neonatal jaundice in the first month of life or weight loss in excess of 10%...
A recent review found that for every 13 exclusively breastfeed babies 1 will loose in excess of 10% of their birthweight
For every 71, 1 will require hospitalisation for hyperbilirubinemia, dehydration, hypernatremia or weight loss
…https://mdedge-files-live.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/files/s3fs-public/Document/May-2018/JFP06706e1.PDF
For every 71, 1 will require hospitalisation for hyperbilirubinemia, dehydration, hypernatremia or weight loss
…https://mdedge-files-live.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/files/s3fs-public/Document/May-2018/JFP06706e1.PDF
Now about those EMOTIONAL people on social media... Who are they referring to exactly.
Is it emergency medicine physician @DrCdCH whose son suffered from life changing kernicterus as a result of being underfed as an infant?
https://fedisbest.org/2015/04/letter-to-doctors-and-parents-about-the-dangers-of-insufficient-exclusive-breastfeeding/
https://fedisbest.org/2016/10/the-rest-of-my-breastfeeding-story/
Is it emergency medicine physician @DrCdCH whose son suffered from life changing kernicterus as a result of being underfed as an infant?
https://fedisbest.org/2015/04/letter-to-doctors-and-parents-about-the-dangers-of-insufficient-exclusive-breastfeeding/
https://fedisbest.org/2016/10/the-rest-of-my-breastfeeding-story/
Or is it Landon Johnson’s mother, Jillian Johnson? Landon died as a result of insufficient milk intake when his parents had been encouraged to exclusively breastfed https://fedisbest.org/2017/02/given-just-one-bottle-still-alive/
Emotional? Yeah...and resonant with the tens of thousands of families from around the world who contacted @FedIsBest with their stories and asking for help to safely feed their babies. We salute them for all they have done in helping us understand what our families went through.
Do they mean people like us who are highlighting the harms we experienced as a result of current infant feeding policy & practice?
Denialists?
Parents who are reading the literature & reeling from how equivocal evidence was used to coerce & manipulate us into breastfeeding?
Denialists?
Parents who are reading the literature & reeling from how equivocal evidence was used to coerce & manipulate us into breastfeeding?
Now... these we kind of agree on...
Researchers should provide clear evidence summaries of their feedings and discredit unsubstantiated claims. We suggest they start with the claims made by breastfeeding advocates
Researchers should provide clear evidence summaries of their feedings and discredit unsubstantiated claims. We suggest they start with the claims made by breastfeeding advocates
But we are going to say we do not think that breastfeeding rates should be yardstick by which we measure the success of infant feeding policies.
Yes, we know - heretical and proud
Yes, we know - heretical and proud
You tell us - What’s more important breastfeeding or...
-preventing excess weight loss
-preventing babies developing hypernatremia or hyperbilirubinemia
-comfortable, enjoyable feeding experiences
-physical & mental health of babies & parents
-parents’ confidence & autonomy?
-preventing excess weight loss
-preventing babies developing hypernatremia or hyperbilirubinemia
-comfortable, enjoyable feeding experiences
-physical & mental health of babies & parents
-parents’ confidence & autonomy?
And we remind you that for all the hand wringing there isn’t a single study that has demonstrated that breasting promotion efforts in the UK or a comparable high income context have led to improved health outcomes....
But we are concerned about the impact on mental health and emotional well being of mothers ... something highlighted in a recent review of the so called ‘baby friendly’ initiative in the UK https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/mcn.12778
And we are concerned about the rising rates of emergency admissions for neonatal jaundice and the possible role of policies promoting exclusive breastfeeding might play in this trend
https://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/files/2018-10/1540142848_qualitywatch-emergency-hospital-care-children-and-young-people-full.pdf
https://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/files/2018-10/1540142848_qualitywatch-emergency-hospital-care-children-and-young-people-full.pdf
So really... denialists?
Could you be any more dismissive of the families you purport to help and those who have suffered harm as a result of the agenda , policies and practices you promote?
Could you be any more dismissive of the families you purport to help and those who have suffered harm as a result of the agenda , policies and practices you promote?
Do we sound like conspiracy theorists and denialists or informed parents demanding that policy and practice be informed by a measured and balanced view of the scientific literature and that health care practice respects patient autonomy and promotes patient safety?
Actually - lets ask the authors - are we amongst the breastfeeding denialists?
@MeghanAzad @Nickel_NC @Dr_LarsBode @Prof_AmyBrown @nabcwa_camie @Mammals_Suck @DrMunblit @rperezescamilla @DrNShenker @BabyFormExpert @luisa_zu
@MeghanAzad @Nickel_NC @Dr_LarsBode @Prof_AmyBrown @nabcwa_camie @Mammals_Suck @DrMunblit @rperezescamilla @DrNShenker @BabyFormExpert @luisa_zu
