>Hi Heather
>Yes, I agree devastating was probably not the best word to use. I 
>know that I did not mean what the respondent said I meant but 
>there's other words I could use. In my opinion when talking about 
>infant feeding using language with the least possible emotional 
>charge is the best way to ensure that what we want to communicate is 
>actually heard.
>Karleen Gribble
>Australia


Thanks for responding, Karleen.

I have learnt that in 'watching our language' we should probably avoid

* all analogies with car seats, smoking, log rolling on rapid-flowing 
water while pregnant (that was used in a TV ad in the US a few years 
ago) or anything that implies mothers who formula feed are reckless 
about infant safety

* anything that suggests we feel sad for babies who are not breastfed 
- mothers who ff do not want to think of their babies as 'victims' to 
be pitied

Our debaters assume we are using emotional 'tactics'  all the time - 
'it's terrible - mothers are made  to feel they are poisoning their 
babies' - so it helps if we can be as
factual, scientific,  dispassionate as we can be,  and leave less 
space for our detractors to accuse us of 'forcing' women to 
breastfeed and so on :(

It's all part of the process of awareness raising.

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc, tutor, UK
-- 

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