>OK, here goes, the cynic in me is coming out.  How was this new strategy
>decided?
>Marsha, do you know whether focus groups have been used to explore the
>effect of emphasizing exclusive BF for 6 months in a society without
>universal maternity leave?  This sounds like it could backfire, and turn
>into another stick to beat women with, in the words of Maureen Minchin.


In the UK, our government advice was changed last May to recommend
routinely exclusive breastfeeding to 6 months.

This has not been in conjunction with an ad programme, and it hasn't
had much publicity.

Yes, some of the little publicity there was  has been negative, for
exactly the reasons Rachel gives - and our maternity leave provision
is much more liberal than in the US. Most mothers do not return to
work until their babies are four or more months old, and there is
provision for partial pay and non-paid leave for longer than this.

It's been used as a stick to beat breastfeeding with....and
breastfeeding supporters....mainly by women journalists :((((

However, maternity (and paternity) leave provision is a live issue in
the UK, and universally thought of as a good thing. Government has
itself admitted to the contradictions in recommending one thing (excl
bf to 6 mths) when for some (not all) women, a return to work is
inevitable....good maternity leave is a vote winner and  in our case
(the UK) there are other strands of opinion which express the fact
that if bf recommendations clash with maternity rights, well then....
maternity rights have gotta give.

So, in a society where there is scope for change, and where it is
likely that maternity leave will continue to extend, I think our new
bf rec's are helpful. We also have no direct-to-consumer advertising
of non-follow-on formula for mothers (though the makers find plenty
of ways to try to dodge that) and so no way of any large-scale
marketing of formula emphasising the freedom etc.

I think where there is hardly any maternity provision at all, and
widespread advertising of formula, there might be different results
of an awareness campaign.

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc, UK

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