Comments on: Breastfeeding: Remove the Booby Traps with Best for Babes http://www.phdinparenting.com/2009/08/04/breastfeeding-remove-the-booby-traps-with-best-for-babes/ ...exploring the art and science of parenting Sat, 11 Feb 2012 15:24:55 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3 By: “How else would you have us say it?” « Raising My Boychick http://www.phdinparenting.com/2009/08/04/breastfeeding-remove-the-booby-traps-with-best-for-babes/#comment-99910 “How else would you have us say it?” « Raising My Boychick Wed, 29 Dec 2010 23:17:14 +0000 http://www.phdinparenting.com/?p=2304#comment-99910 [...] we’re working to get started. But when writing material directed at formula companies, at women who are facing the “choice” of feeding method, when we are discussing as lactivists the best way to get our message across, when we, as I try to [...] [...] we’re working to get started. But when writing material directed at formula companies, at women who are facing the “choice” of feeding method, when we are discussing as lactivists the best way to get our message across, when we, as I try to [...]

]]> By: Bettina http://www.phdinparenting.com/2009/08/04/breastfeeding-remove-the-booby-traps-with-best-for-babes/#comment-20103 Bettina Wed, 14 Oct 2009 00:15:28 +0000 http://www.phdinparenting.com/?p=2304#comment-20103 First of all, bravo that you breastfed your babies! I understand that not everyone relates to this picture, and to be honest, our goal is not to preach to the converted (the tiny minority that breastfed). Our goal is to do for breastfeeding what Demi Moore and the cover of Vanity Fair did for maternity--the Annie Leibovitz photo in 1991 was provocative and shocking to many, and many complained. Yet it set in motion a cultural appreciation of pregnancy and changed the social norms so that women did not have to hide their pregnancies or stay home or away from the beach! Our photo is intended to be visually arresting and to get people to pay attention. We have had a tremendously positive reaction to it and success with it in the media, among corporate sponsors and celebrity backers because it is very different than the images most people associate with breastfeeding. Unfortunately, too many in our culture think breastfeeding is disgusting or think women should hide it. We don't agree, and if we have to frame an image in a context that people relate to in order to get them to think differently, than so be it! I do not think the photo emphasizes sexuality, but do think our model, nursing a 3 month old baby, exudes confidence, power, and the complexity of mother- and woman-hood! Thanks for sharing your thoughts. First of all, bravo that you breastfed your babies! I understand that not everyone relates to this picture, and to be honest, our goal is not to preach to the converted (the tiny minority that breastfed). Our goal is to do for breastfeeding what Demi Moore and the cover of Vanity Fair did for maternity–the Annie Leibovitz photo in 1991 was provocative and shocking to many, and many complained. Yet it set in motion a cultural appreciation of pregnancy and changed the social norms so that women did not have to hide their pregnancies or stay home or away from the beach! Our photo is intended to be visually arresting and to get people to pay attention. We have had a tremendously positive reaction to it and success with it in the media, among corporate sponsors and celebrity backers because it is very different than the images most people associate with breastfeeding. Unfortunately, too many in our culture think breastfeeding is disgusting or think women should hide it. We don’t agree, and if we have to frame an image in a context that people relate to in order to get them to think differently, than so be it! I do not think the photo emphasizes sexuality, but do think our model, nursing a 3 month old baby, exudes confidence, power, and the complexity of mother- and woman-hood! Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

]]> By: Anna/5rottens http://www.phdinparenting.com/2009/08/04/breastfeeding-remove-the-booby-traps-with-best-for-babes/#comment-19578 Anna/5rottens Fri, 09 Oct 2009 21:04:42 +0000 http://www.phdinparenting.com/?p=2304#comment-19578 So I'm really late commenting on this post, but I do NOT understand the picture that Best For Babes chose to put on their home page. I am a mother of five. I haven't had visible collar bones in well over seven years. Why do I want to look at yet another too-skinny naked model? Adding the infant to the picture makes it even worse. The baby looks to be *maybe* a month old. I don't know many moms who look that good naked a month after giving birth! And quite frankly, don't we get enough of the "celebrity got her body back in 2 weeks" pressure from magazines? Do I need to get it from a site I'm looking to for support, as well? I also don't understand the overt sexuality of the picture. Why are they trying to make breastfeeding look sexy? I just don't get it. One of the biggest battles that women who NIP fight are against people who think there is something sexual about breastfeeding. Why on earth would they choose to validate that belief? Breastfeeding is intimate and nurturing and powerful, and looking at my healthy breastfed babes is a wonderful boost to the ego in an "I am woman" sort of way. And all of those things *can* be sexy (much in the way a confident woman is sexy), but emphasizing sexuality in a breastfeeding advocacy campaign just seems... ill advised, at best. I have such a gut-level, adverse reaction to that image that, for me, it undermines the credibility of the site. Are there any moms - particularly new moms - who look at that image and feel that it speaks to them? Did BFB gather any consumer insights before they launched? I get wanting to be hip and a little edgy - I think that's a fantastic idea - but I think that image is just way off the mark. So I’m really late commenting on this post, but I do NOT understand the picture that Best For Babes chose to put on their home page. I am a mother of five. I haven’t had visible collar bones in well over seven years. Why do I want to look at yet another too-skinny naked model? Adding the infant to the picture makes it even worse. The baby looks to be *maybe* a month old. I don’t know many moms who look that good naked a month after giving birth! And quite frankly, don’t we get enough of the “celebrity got her body back in 2 weeks” pressure from magazines? Do I need to get it from a site I’m looking to for support, as well?

I also don’t understand the overt sexuality of the picture. Why are they trying to make breastfeeding look sexy? I just don’t get it. One of the biggest battles that women who NIP fight are against people who think there is something sexual about breastfeeding. Why on earth would they choose to validate that belief? Breastfeeding is intimate and nurturing and powerful, and looking at my healthy breastfed babes is a wonderful boost to the ego in an “I am woman” sort of way. And all of those things *can* be sexy (much in the way a confident woman is sexy), but emphasizing sexuality in a breastfeeding advocacy campaign just seems… ill advised, at best.

I have such a gut-level, adverse reaction to that image that, for me, it undermines the credibility of the site. Are there any moms – particularly new moms – who look at that image and feel that it speaks to them? Did BFB gather any consumer insights before they launched? I get wanting to be hip and a little edgy – I think that’s a fantastic idea – but I think that image is just way off the mark.

]]> By: Bettina http://www.phdinparenting.com/2009/08/04/breastfeeding-remove-the-booby-traps-with-best-for-babes/#comment-11728 Bettina Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:00:39 +0000 http://www.phdinparenting.com/?p=2304#comment-11728 Thank you Susan, and thank you for helping us spread the word! Thank you Susan, and thank you for helping us spread the word!

]]> By: Bettina http://www.phdinparenting.com/2009/08/04/breastfeeding-remove-the-booby-traps-with-best-for-babes/#comment-11576 Bettina Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:37:42 +0000 http://www.phdinparenting.com/?p=2304#comment-11576 @Majoranka At Best for Babes, we believe that one of the reasons we have such poor maternity leave policies in this country is that not enough mothers are demanding it. How do we get moms to demand it? Through information and advertising campaigns such as the one above! In addition to focusing attention on the lack of employer support (though we state it in a positive, empowering way, to encourage moms to make sure their employers support them), we are also focusing attention on the fact that far too many new moms are being prevented from succeeding at breastfeeding in the first few days, or weeks, long before they go back to work! Getting moms to understand that it is not their fault but that they are being undermined by "booby traps" is the reason we were founded, and this takes an "information campaign" also. Check out our "booby traps" section on our website for more info. Thanks! @Majoranka
At Best for Babes, we believe that one of the reasons we have such poor maternity leave policies in this country is that not enough mothers are demanding it. How do we get moms to demand it? Through information and advertising campaigns such as the one above! In addition to focusing attention on the lack of employer support (though we state it in a positive, empowering way, to encourage moms to make sure their employers support them), we are also focusing attention on the fact that far too many new moms are being prevented from succeeding at breastfeeding in the first few days, or weeks, long before they go back to work! Getting moms to understand that it is not their fault but that they are being undermined by “booby traps” is the reason we were founded, and this takes an “information campaign” also. Check out our “booby traps” section on our website for more info. Thanks!

]]> By: Bettina http://www.phdinparenting.com/2009/08/04/breastfeeding-remove-the-booby-traps-with-best-for-babes/#comment-11575 Bettina Mon, 10 Aug 2009 16:31:22 +0000 http://www.phdinparenting.com/?p=2304#comment-11575 @Harriet: I agree that breastfeeding advocates need to be conscious and sensitive to adoptive parents. What Best for Babes would like to see, is that adoptive parents could receive free or purchase screened, pasteurized, donated human milk for their babies for the same cost as purchasing formula. Donated milk is recommended by the World Health Organization, which says that it is superior to formula, and that formula should be the choice of last resort. This brings up complex issues but these are issues that need to be raised! We have already spoken Dr. Jane Aronson, who is an expert on adoption and on orphans (she founded the World-Wide Orphans Foundation), and has helped Angelina Jolie. Would love to have your involvement in making this choice available to more adoptive parents! @Harriet: I agree that breastfeeding advocates need to be conscious and sensitive to adoptive parents. What Best for Babes would like to see, is that adoptive parents could receive free or purchase screened, pasteurized, donated human milk for their babies for the same cost as purchasing formula. Donated milk is recommended by the World Health Organization, which says that it is superior to formula, and that formula should be the choice of last resort. This brings up complex issues but these are issues that need to be raised! We have already spoken Dr. Jane Aronson, who is an expert on adoption and on orphans (she founded the World-Wide Orphans Foundation), and has helped Angelina Jolie. Would love to have your involvement in making this choice available to more adoptive parents!

]]> By: Patrice http://www.phdinparenting.com/2009/08/04/breastfeeding-remove-the-booby-traps-with-best-for-babes/#comment-11415 Patrice Sat, 08 Aug 2009 03:59:37 +0000 http://www.phdinparenting.com/?p=2304#comment-11415 Great post! I believe that breastfeeding is still best for babies. Great post! I believe that breastfeeding is still best for babies.

]]> By: Darcel http://www.phdinparenting.com/2009/08/04/breastfeeding-remove-the-booby-traps-with-best-for-babes/#comment-11398 Darcel Fri, 07 Aug 2009 15:16:22 +0000 http://www.phdinparenting.com/?p=2304#comment-11398 Great post! I know that if I had more support I would've been able to breastfeed my first much longer and w/out giving her formula. That experience helped me to better prepare myself with my 2nd and we're still going strong now. I have something for you over at my blog :) Great post! I know that if I had more support I would’ve been able to breastfeed my first much longer and w/out giving her formula. That experience helped me to better prepare myself with my 2nd and we’re still going strong now.

I have something for you over at my blog :)

]]> By: Five for Fridays - Aug 7, 2009 | LittleStomaks http://www.phdinparenting.com/2009/08/04/breastfeeding-remove-the-booby-traps-with-best-for-babes/#comment-11388 Five for Fridays - Aug 7, 2009 | LittleStomaks Fri, 07 Aug 2009 10:02:55 +0000 http://www.phdinparenting.com/?p=2304#comment-11388 [...] Greetings!This week is the World Breastfeeding Week. Organized by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA), the focus this year is In Emergencies, Breastfeeding is a Lifeline. I never thought about breastfeeding this way, but it makes sense. Children and infants are most vulnerable during a catastrophic emergency – whether natural or man-made. According to WABA estimates, child mortality can be 2 to 70 times higher than normal under these conditions due to diarrhea, malnutrition and respiratory illness. They believe that by supporting breastfeeding in non-emergency situations, we can be better prepared to save the lives of young children during emergencies. Here is a great post by my blogger friend Annie on this subject by Annie on PhdInParenting. [...] [...] Greetings!This week is the World Breastfeeding Week. Organized by the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action (WABA), the focus this year is In Emergencies, Breastfeeding is a Lifeline. I never thought about breastfeeding this way, but it makes sense. Children and infants are most vulnerable during a catastrophic emergency – whether natural or man-made. According to WABA estimates, child mortality can be 2 to 70 times higher than normal under these conditions due to diarrhea, malnutrition and respiratory illness. They believe that by supporting breastfeeding in non-emergency situations, we can be better prepared to save the lives of young children during emergencies. Here is a great post by my blogger friend Annie on this subject by Annie on PhdInParenting. [...]

]]> By: Frelle http://www.phdinparenting.com/2009/08/04/breastfeeding-remove-the-booby-traps-with-best-for-babes/#comment-11372 Frelle Fri, 07 Aug 2009 02:57:32 +0000 http://www.phdinparenting.com/?p=2304#comment-11372 Thank you for this post, and I give a hearty YES MA'AM to what you've said. I am an American who has breastfed 4 children. I am so glad to have links to your other breastfeeding posts too! Thank you for this post, and I give a hearty YES MA’AM to what you’ve said. I am an American who has breastfed 4 children. I am so glad to have links to your other breastfeeding posts too!

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