Campaigns to promote breastfeeding can leave new mothers feeling as though they are second-rate parents if they feed their babies formula milk. According to researchers at the University of Kent, about one in 10 mothers said they felt a sense of failure, guilt and uncertainty at not breastfeeding, having intended to breastfeed then finding that their feeding did not go to plan. They were also worried about what the health visitor or midwife might say to them as well as being concerned about the effects of formula milk on their babies' health.(Source: NOP World)  

Professor Frank Furedi and Dr Ellie Lee identified that mothers have an ambivalent attitude towards breastfeeding. While the majority are aware that 'breast is best', in practice more than three quarters of babies are given formula milk by the time they are six months old, with many receiving formula in the first few weeks of their lives.

The aim of the research was to find out more about why women choose to use formula and their experiences of doing so. It showed that for most it was a pragmatic decision motivated by personal circumstances. Many, for example, are juggling the needs of a small baby with those of other children or the demands of work. Others are responding to the trend to encourage fathers to play a bigger role in baby-care. Some find it a real struggle to breastfeed. However, whatever the reason, there was a widespread sense that women are pressurised to breastfeed and that they feel guilty if they do not.  

One mother, who was unable to breastfeed and who then bottle-fed her baby, said: 'I felt like a failure, I felt embarrassed, I felt miserable. I thought everyone was looking at me, and like I constantly had to justify myself. I just went on and on about it. I was swamped by it. Looking back I think I was depressed. I feel that I lost the first couple of months of the baby's life really. I didn't enjoy it, and I was very unhappy.'

Dr Ellie Lee said: 'Those who offer advice to women about feeding their babies have the responsibility to give pregnant women and new mothers factual information. This genuine need to keep them informed about health issues and offer sound advice can co-exist with a moralising ethos about formula milk and sometimes it is this which prevails. This means that some women who feed their baby formula feel judged, and that they are a problem which needs to be managed. Some feel that the health professionals' breastfeeding targets are more important than the needs and experiences of new mothers.'

According to the researchers a tendency to moralise makes it hard for a culture of empathy and trust to develop between health professionals and new mothers to the point where some of the women lied about their feeding practices.  
'When I went to the clinic to get him weighed I used to hide the bottle in my bag and if there was no-one there then I'd give him a quick sip before and then, if someone came, if I could hear them coming up the stairs I'd put this bottle away.'  

The research also showed that moral pressure to breastfeed also comes from other women who may, consciously or unconsciously, judge the action of the new mothers, calling them into question.  Male partners and family members were found to be least critical of the woman's decision to use formula milk. One woman commented 'He just said 'Don't put any pressure on yourself. Do what's best for you.'  

The researchers, from the University's School of Social Policy , Sociology and Social Research emphasise that the findings should be taken as providing insight into women's experiences of using formula milk and not as representative of the experience of all women. Mothers' experience of, and attitudes to, using infant formula in the early months was based on a research brief from the Infant Dietetics and Foods Association (IDFA).

The research comprised two elements:
1) A qualitative interview study with 33 mothers who used formula milk to feed their babies at age three months or less
2) A quantitative telephone study by NOP World with 503 mothers of babies aged 0-6 months about their experiences of feeding in general (fieldwork was conducted in July 2004)
3. A summary of Mothers' experience of, and attitudes to, using infant formula in the early months is available at  
  www.kent.ac.uk/sspssr/staff/Infant%20Formula-Summary%5Bfinal%5D.pdf

(9/7/05)