Category: Breastfeeding in Public

INTRODUCTION

The subject of breastfeeding in public has never usually been a controversial one, until now. In a world where everyone’s different views are valued, some cases of discrimination to new mothers trying to feed their babies has caused a riot in the political domain. My PIP addresses the topic of, is breastfeeding in public an acceptable social norm. This research aims to cover different gender views on breastfeeding mothers in public and the impact that is has on mothers in society. I chose this area of enquiry because I feel as though mothers, especially new mothers do not deserve to be harassed for something that they need to do. Feeding a child is essential for growth and development and just like you and me, sometimes need to be fed in public. This topic is one that occurs in almost every society worldwide on a macro scale.

In order to gather information about this topic and record different people’s opinions, I created a questionnaire for both males and females asking important questions. These questions inquire about personal experiences as well as if they were in that situation, what the outcome would be. This methodology is best suited to my topic as all the questions asked are relevant to the underlying question. Some advantages to this include no time limit, all the questions that needed are there and they are all required and must have an answer. Although there are advantages there are also disadvantages. Disadvantages don’t cover all the bases like an equal amount of answers from two different genders. Experience is also a drawback for this methodology as some answers are from mothers who have been harassed and some are from people who have seen the discrimination firsthand. These weaknesses make for a manipulation and single view of society.

Throughout this personal interest project, I have examined the cross-cultural perspectives of gender, females and males. The reason for this is that many people think that males are more likely to discriminate towards breastfeeding than women because they are of the opposite sex. It is thought that the reasoning behind this is because men have been known to objectify women and often sexualise their bodies no matter what the situation. While the culprit mainly connected with discrimination of women is men, females also frown upon situations like this, hence why I will be focusing on both genders. Investigation on the two perspectives will pin point whether the judgement and harassment is more one sided and not equal.

LOG

When I first started to think about writing my PIP, it took me a while to find a topic that I was passionate about and interested me. I landed on the contemporary topic of how women are discriminated for breastfeeding in public and wondered if the discrimination came from a particular gender or whether it was a number of other factors that contributed. I decided that the cross-cultural comparison of genders, female and male would be the starting point for my PIP. During the first stages before writing my PIP I did some general research to ensure that I had enough resources to gain more knowledge and allow me to further understand the extent that this harassment has reached in our society.

I initially created a starting question, but throughout the journey of writing my PIP I have considered and reconsidered what my PIP is really about and what the question I’m asking really is. I created a questionnaire to try and get a better understanding of what I needed to write for my PIP and to give me a baseline of opinions from the community on the topic. This collection of information was on a meso level as it was only the opinions of those within the community in my town. It took me a while to start writing my PIP as I had no idea how I would start it. I ended up finding a scaffold that helped me form a frame for my introduction and the format I would need for my central material.

After choosing my topic and doing some research, I decided to begin setting out my chapters. I later realised that this layout was too broad and that I would lose track of writing. With this in mind, I made the decision to create 6-7 focus questions to narrow down the information needed for each one without losing track or repeating myself. This helped to ensure that I stuck to only one aspect of the topic without introducing too much new material. After figuring out each of my focus questions, I then did some deeper research in order to help me answer specific focus questions.

The journey of my PIP found me coming up with questions that I did not think of earlier whilst writing my questionnaire. It was these questions that I used to produce an interview for a few members of the public. I then decided to interview four members of the local community, both young and old, male and female. Both my questionnaire and interviews were an important part of developing a genuine perspective for my central material. The convenience of creating my own methodologies meant that I was able to only ask questions that were relevant to my topic. I was lucky to receive some responses that helped me create new topics and ideas to mention, as well as give me a new perspective. Both interview and questionnaire were beneficial to gaining new perspectives and ideas from those in the community.

FOCUS QUESTIONS FOR CENTRAL MATERIAL

1. Why do we think women should cover themselves? (indecent exposure)
2. Are the male and female views of the body different?
3. Where would be an appropriate place to breastfeed in public?
4. What strategies have already been put in place to protect new mother from harassment? ( Is it illegal to ask a woman to stop breastfeeding?)
5. How do the opinions of others in society have such an impact on mothers and why?
6. Why are women participants in this discrimination if they are the same sex?
7. Is the fear of breastfeeding in public causing mothers to move towards bottle and formula feeding earlier?

CENTRAL MATERIAL

Why does society think women should cover themselves?

In contemporary society, generally, the norm of breastfeeding in public seems to receive little or no attention, as long as the baby and the mother’s breasts are covered. In some circumstances a baby does not like to be fed underneath a blanket or a mother does not have access to a blanket. Another struggle that arises when it comes to covering up is that most of the time a baby’s hunger is not on a timed schedule which can lead to some unexpected crying and a tough situation in a public area. A mother, especially a new mother, may not be prepared for this and have no other choice but to go forward with the feeding, exposed. Society believes that women should cover themselves whilst breastfeeding because indecent exposure is meant for ‘seducing other women’s husbands’ or because it is not something that surrounding children or teens should see. SOURCE It is hard for me that some people can’t just look away is beyond me, but I think that mother’s breastfeeding with a cover attracts more attention to them, than without. Covering up can also imply that there is something inappropriate about feeding a baby when in reality it should be considered as the most natural and normal thing a woman can do.

Studies show that it is mostly the female class that are suggesting more modesty from women breastfeeding in public. A comment on a recent social media post about a breastfeeding mother stated, “I totally support breastfeeding, but what’s so hard about covering up to breastfeed in public?”. There are several reasons why a woman might not cover up whilst breastfeeding, the most popular being an unexpected feed.

Both men and women correlate modesty with respect for community and although there are many ways for a woman to show respect to others whilst she’s feeding, there are also ways for the community to be respectful to those mothers in return.

Many women in society and the community say that they would prefer mothers to cover themselves whilst breastfeeding because their husbands/partners don’t need to see that. SOURCE Each to their own, another mother might say that they don’t want their children to see an exposed breast let alone a baby attached to it. It is this kind of thinking that will prevent the future generations from knowing the difference between what feels right and what is right. Younger generations may take this shame that their parents have put onto a breastfeeding mother and consider only bottle feeding when they have a baby to avoid the same stigma.

Others have no problems with their partners/children seeing this but rather just find it plain disgusting. The function of eating has never been disgusting until a baby feeds on a mother’s breast. An intimate moment I agree but disgusting not hardly.

Society don’t as much as say a word at breasts in a bikini or in a low-cut blouse. Posters of breasts in lacey, sheer lingerie plastered along shopping centre walls are all okay. But some areas of society somehow refuse to accept that breasts in the mouth of a hungry child is not okay.

Are the male and female views of the body different?

Males and females being the opposite sex have been known to see things differently and never really eye to eye. This applies when it comes to looking at the body. Female and male body images share many of the same features as well as share body image risk factors and results of negative body image, although this seems to be more common in the female sex in comparison to males.

When it comes to breastfeeding, results from my questionnaire proved that 80% of males were okay with the action however admitted that it made them uncomfortable when around a woman with an exposed breast. For some young males, this is accurate as they may have not yet adjusted to viewing the female body or had experience. Both sexes tend to be more comfortable and have adjusted to viewing their own bodies. These views change with age since contact becomes more frequent and the body becomes more familiar. Perspective also changes as you start to view things from not just one point of view, opinions are able to be changed as society becomes more open to new ideas.

The different view on the body can also be altered based on values, upbringing, the environment and societal norms. It is not always gender that contributes to how others see the human body but more the person and the way that they choose to interpret the human form. Women tend to think of the human body as a vessel for giving life and living life. Men, while sometimes think the same thing, make the most of their bodies and use it to build houses, cars and run businesses.

The different views of men and women on breastfeeding can be based on experience as well as opinions. Some men find that their opinion on breastfeeding changes after their partner/relative has a child. This is often because it reduces awkwardness. Because there are less women breastfeeding and therefore less people seeing this, there may be more awkwardness or resistance because they have not experienced this in their life.

It is quite common for a woman is modern society to have issues or doubts about her body. Although humanity and their opinions are always changing, one of the main issues in society has remained the same, body image. Body image affects body genders but is more common in women. This is said to be because of societal pressure to look a certain way. This has affected women all over the world who have developed eating disorders and have a distorted body image (negative body image). This could be a possible reason why women discriminate against those of the same sex.

Where would be an appropriate place to breastfeed in public?

Consider the word appropriate. Would you think that a dirty, public bathroom stall would suffice as a place for dining? My thoughts are no. Women in the 21st century are still being asked to ‘go to the bathroom’ to feed their crying babies as to not offend people with their breasts. Some circumstances when a woman has to breastfeed her crying child in the middle of a shopping centre, she has no other option but to do so. A baby should be fed whenever and wherever it is hungry. Often the mother may not have a cloth for coverage or maybe the back of the restaurant that is dim and secluded is already occupied. Some public areas like a shopping centre may have a nursing room but again where a woman breastfeeds in public should be where she feels most comfortable. A mother should not have to worry about what others are going to think of her before she starts breastfeeding or even after she’s done.

A restaurant is known to be a place of dining however some mothers that have been breastfeeding in this area have been asked to leave the premises as it disturbs the patrons enjoying their meal. This seems a bit hypocritical as a baby is feeding just like everyone else but because they need to access a possible exposed breast to be fed it is not okay. Restaurants have recently been putting up signs to let mothers know that it is a breastfeeding friendly place. The use of breastfeeding stickers is a very visual way to show support for breastfeeding mothers. These signs are good to let mothers know where they will be undisturbed whilst breastfeeding but, I’m still wondering why we need them in the first place at all? Some members of society are able to turn the other cheek and look away out of respect. I don’t know of many mothers who want to be watched at while they are breastfeeding.

There are no rules indicating that a woman cannot breastfeed any place she pleases. In some cases, it may not be the right time or place to do so especially

What strategies have already been put in place to protect new mothers from harassment?

Under the Federal Sex Discrimination Act 1984 it is illegal in Australia to discriminate a person based on the grounds of breastfeeding, directly or indirectly. Even though this law was passed and amended in 2011 the discrimination against women still occurs throughout Australia.

Why are women participants in this discrimination if they are the same sex?

Discrimination towards breastfeeding mothers can come from all aspects of the surrounding public, including from the same sex. Information gathered from both of my methodologies showed that just as many women were discriminative towards breastfeeding mother just as much as men. Around 5% of those women claim that they share their opinions because they are either against it or feel uncomfortable. A possible reason that a woman my feel uncomfortable could be because of body image throughout society. Viewing a woman who is confidently breastfeeding in public may have a negative effect on those around her.

Is the fear of breastfeeding in public causing mothers to move towards bottle and formula feeding earlier?

At this point in time breastfeeding should be beyond normalised in society yet more women now choose to bottle-feed or use a formula. There are many reasons why a mother might switch to feeding her child with formula a lot earlier than others and while there a some more logical reasons there are also some objectives which prove the mother selfish. In the context of returning to social activities and work, switching to bottle feeding or using a formula is convenient and makes life a little easy as mothers get busier and children get older. Some women may choose to bottle feed with pumped breast milk or with a formula as a way to avoid discrimination. However, some intentions are not always for the best. A selective group of women choose to make the switch for their better and the motive for this is usually alcohol.

The Department of Health recommends babies should be exclusively breastfed until 6 months of age when solid foods are introduced and continued up to 12 months or longer if the mother and baby wish. Yet in Australia, by the time a baby is four months old, less than 40% of women still breastfeed and by 6 months, less than 15% of babies have breast milk.

As time goes on, the less we see breastfeeding the less acceptance there will be. Making a decision to bottle/formula feed is a personal one and is usually a choice made by mothers soon after breastfeeding. But breastfeeding is not always possible or an option for some women. Infant formula is a healthy and safe alternative for those who are unable to breastfeed or decide not to. Often women think that they won’t bond with their baby unless they breastfeed however, a bond can be made with a mother’s touch, voice or care.

Breastfeeding is a very important role that can impact a child’s wellbeing. Proteins called antibodies are naturally produced in breastmilk and inside the placenta. Antibodies provide protection for unborn babies and newly born infants who have yet to fully develop their immune system. Unlike breastfed babies, formula fed babies do not receive infection fighting antibodies through breastmilk but still have a supply from the placenta blood flow before delivery.

After analysing whether Hong Kong is a breastfeeding friendly society with reference to parameters based on facilities, government support and public policies, I believe that Hong Kong is not a breastfeeding-friendly society. I will further explain with the evaluation in aspects of coverage, protection and discrimination below.

Parameter 1: Coverage of support for mothers to breastfeed is low

Currently, there are only 2 hospitals are accredited by BFHIHKA to be a Baby-friendly Hospital in Hong Kong. The Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative was to remove breastfeeding barriers in health facilities such as hospitals, clinics, maternity centres and mother-child care centres. The fact that only 2 hospitals out of 56 hospitals in Hong Kong are qualified proves the inadequacy in providing high-quality support to breastfeeding mothers to start breastfeeding and inability to promote continuous breastfeeding as an option for mothers with a newborn.

Some may say numerous supportive environment for breastfeeding is provided in all regions of Hong Kong. There are about 142 nursery rooms in Hong Kong island, 207 in Kowloon, 212 in New Territories and 44 in outlying islands. To be specific, the MTR provides support through provide a more comfortable environment for mothers to nurse their babies in 20 interchange stations. Private rooms can be arranged in stations without a designated breastfeeding area. The Hong Kong International Airport also provides a total of 39 nursing rooms. Therefore, the support is adequate and the coverage is high.

However, MTR only provides support in 20 stations out of all 91 stations. Moreover, according to a survey done by the Department of Health, the reason for over 50% of mothers breastfeeding in public is that there are not available breastfeeding room, this means either the rooms are occupied and implies the supply is less than demand, or there is no breastfeeding room provided near them. Furthermore, from the result of the field observation, the breastfeeding rooms appear to be only equipped in newer malls like Hysan but not in older malls like Causeway Bay Plaza 2, the coverage in newer malls is higher than that of the older malls. Also, as older malls tend to situated in residential areas and newer malls in commercial areas and breastfeeding mothers tend to stay in the residential areas, there are not enough facilities around them. It is evident that the support is of low coverage, thus Hong Kong is unfriendly towards breastfeeding.

Parameter 2: Ineffectiveness of government policy — lack of legal protection

At present, there is no explicit provision in the Sex Discrimination Ordinance (SDO) prohibiting direct or indirect discrimination against breastfeeding. In other developed places, for instance, In Australia, the law clearly stated that it is generally against the law to refuse to make arrangements to assist mothers to breastfeed at work. Moreover, in Taiwan, The Public Breastfeeding Act and Standards for Establishment and Administration of Public Breastfeeding Rooms are adopted to protect and safeguard the right of women to breastfeed in public places and provide those who are willing to do so with care. Although breastfeeding in public is lawful, there are no effective laws to safeguard this right in Hong Kong, hence it is an unfriendly society.

Some may argue The Equal Opportunities Commission (EOC) handles breastfeeding discrimination complaints. Under the Family Status Discrimination Ordinance(FSDO), it is unlawful to discriminate against a person who has “family status” in specified areas including employment, education, provision of goods, facilities or services, disposal or management of premises, etc.

However, the “family status” stated in FSDO does not specifically include breastfeeding women. This makes it difficult for the EOC to establish a case of discrimination on the ground of breastfeeding. So far no case on discrimination on grounds of breastfeeding has been taken to court in Hong Kong. This is an ineffective system to completely ensure that breastfeeding mothers can enjoy their rights of breastfeeding publicly.

Although there is The Discrimination Legislation (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill 2018 being discussed in the Legislative Council, it has not been implemented and a long time has passed. It also has a lot of loopholes even in the amendments. It is pointed out by the Equal Opportunity Commision that the definition of breastfeeding and breastfeeding situation in the bill is flawed. For instance, “a woman is breastfeeding if she is engaged in the act of breastfeeding her child or expressing breast milk to feed her child”is stated in the definition of breastfeeding. However, it is nearly impossible to tell whether the breastfeeding woman is the mother of the child being breastfed because it is not a must that the baby belongs to the breastfeeding woman. Also, this specification of “her child” is unneeded, the law should protect all breastfeeding mothers in general. Similar laws protecting breastfeeding mothers in Australia and the UK do not consist of such restrictions. It is seen that the unenacted bill is flawed and there is no implemented legislation to protect the rights and safety of mothers breastfeeding in public. Hong Kong is ineffective in providing legal protection for mothers who breastfeed in public, therefore, Hong Kong is not a breastfeeding friendly society.

Parameter 3: Ineffectiveness in providing public support to breastfeeding mothers despite positive public opinion on breastfeeding

Currently, the knowledge in breastfeeding of the public is limited. There is about one-fifth of respondents think that formula milk is more beneficial than breast milk and majority of their (72.1% and 76.5%) answers do not correspond to WHO recommendations of the duration of breastfeeding. About half (47.6%) of respondents only have 1 answer corresponded to WHO recommendations. The percentages are alarmingly high and proved citizens’ lack of knowledge in breastfeeding. This leads to ineffectiveness in providing suitable and adequate support to breastfeeding mothers which will be illustrated below.

Some may say the positive opinion on breastfeeding helps to provide public support. There is a high acceptance towards breastfeeding in public and implementation of breastfeeding friendly measures. Majority (78.7%) of the public holds a positive attitude to breastfeeding and (86.1%) of the respondents agree on implementing these breastfeeding friendly measures in public venue. This indicates that the public consider breastfeeding in public should be promoted and that facilities and measures should be built and implemented in doing so. The public holds a positive attitude to breastfeeding and is willing to provide support, therefore, Hong Kong is a breastfeeding-friendly society.

However, the society is ineffective in providing public support to breastfeeding mothers. Although there is an overwhelmingly positive opinion on public breastfeeding and implementation of measures, little is actually done due to the lack of knowledge of breastfeeding. This indicates the ineffectiveness of concern groups like La Leche League HK in promoting breastfeeding as well.

Mothers have to return to work after 10 weeks of maternity leaveand the baby should still be breastfed exclusively at that time. However, as the public lack knowledge in the period of exclusive breastfeeding and the continuation of breastfeeding after the introduction of solid food, 34-35 that 24.2% and 28.2% of respondents answered don’t know, regulations of providing a proper environment for female employees to breastfeed are often not implemented in workplace. FThe majority (81.4%) of respondents stated that there is no implementation of breastfeeding friendly measures in the workplace. This may be caused by the fact that public are uninformed of the duration needed for breastfeeding and thus consider providing support in workplace is not needed as they thought 10 weeks have already passed since the mother gave birth. Therefore, although the public opinion is positive, the effectiveness in providing public support is low due to the lack of knowledge.

Most people debate on whether to breastfeed or formula feed their infants, most people say they should breastfeed their infant because it’s a more natural option, but what if you can’t because of medical issues, then what are you supposed to tell them that you would just rather not breastfeed, and risk getting judged because you can’t breastfeed? In this paper, I will be discussing the advantages and disadvantages of both breastfeeding and bottle feeding and the effects on the mother while breastfeeding the infant, and anything else having to do with pregnancy; like teen pregnancy and pregnancy-related deaths.

Breastfeeding-

When the mother breastfeeds the baby for the first few weeks, the mother will release colostrum which will get in the milk and once she feeds the baby with that milk the baby will get a lot of antibodies, nutrients, and other things that prevent the baby from getting sick, the milk will only contain things you’ve gotten sick from though so say you have never had the flu the baby won’t get those antibodies. According to https://www.llli.org/breastfeeding-info/, “It is thick, sticky, concentrated milk and is usually yellow, clear or white, although it could be other colors as well. It is made up of immune factors, protein, sugar, and fat.” It is important to feed the baby in the first few days because of that colostrum that is released for the first couple of weeks.

Advantage:

Some advantages for the mother’s milk are that the baby gets will be nutrients and antibodies from the mother’s breast milk that she is providing, unlike formula which is just to sort of ‘mimic’ a mother’s milk. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/why-we-shouldnt-demonize-formula-feeding-2018040313557, did a study on underweight babies and one group was fed with formula and the other with breast milk and formula, at the end of their study they found that the ones who got breastfed and formula-fed gained weight again, but the ones who didn’t get breast milk were more likely to be hospitalized again because it was dangerous for the baby to be underweight. The breast milk that the mother provides the infant with is specifically made for them, unlike formula which is just to mimic breast milk, as I stated previously. Another good thing is that the infant and the mother get a stronger bond while breastfeeding. When the mother breastfeeds the infant they are spending more time together which makes their bond stronger. If the mother were to have a premature child the child is more likely to become healthier and released faster if the infant is being breastfed than if it were to be bottle fed.

Disadvantage:

You have to be with the baby the whole time when you are going to feed it, and if they start crying at night you won’t be able to tell your significant other to go and feed the baby. The mother may not supply enough milk for the baby which would lead to the baby not getting enough nutrients and the child getting sick, the mother may get sick during a certain amount of time and she may not be able to feed her child because she isn’t producing enough milk for that certain amount of time. The mother may also get sore or inverted nipples which will prevent her from feeding the infant. Inverted nipples is when the mothers nipples gets turned inwards because of the baby being in a weird position

What effect does breastfeeding have on the mother?

The mother may get sore nipples or inverted nipples which will hurt her every time she tries to breastfeed the baby, it is recommended to not feed the child if you have inverted nipples or if your nipples are bleeding. But not all effects are bad, some are good like when breastfeeding, the mothers’ metabolism resets back to normal. According to https://www.llli.org/whats-in-it-for-mothers/, “Exclusive breastfeeding actually turns off the stress response.” and “Exclusive breastfeeding increases both the quality and quantity of mothers’ sleep.”

Bottle feeding-

Even though people see bottle feeding as a bad thing, not all mothers are able to breastfeed for certain reasons like medical issues or if they can’t produce enough milk for their child. Bottle feeding the baby has some benefits with the baby and the mother. Sometimes the birth may have some difficulties and the mother may die giving birth to the child so the father has no other option but to bottle feed the infant. Although formula isn’t the most healthiest option it is still available to those who have medical issues and aren’t able to breastfeed. If the mother drinks or smokes it is a good idea to formula feed the infant until she stops or the infant will get sick. If the mother is on any medication they should not breastfeed, if the mother has HIV she should not breastfeed, if the mother has the swine flu or zika she should not breastfeed, and if they have a certain chronic illness.

Advantage:

Like the mother not having to constantly having to be with the baby in fear that the baby might skip a meal or get behind a meal, or when she wants to rest and can’t because the baby gets hungry. With bottle feeding the father now gets to spend more time with the infant, if the mother were to breastfeed the infant the father may rarely get to bond with the infant. The mother doesn’t have to avoid certain foods when breastfeeding it is recommended to avoid certain foods while breastfeeding because it might affect the infant so now the mother may eat what she pleases. Feeding won’t be as frequent as breastfeeding would, since it takes the infant to fully digest formula the feedings would decrease unlike breast milk which is easier for the infant to digest.

Disadvantage:

Formula isn’t the same as breast milk so the child isn’t receiving the same nutrients or antibodies as a child that would be breastfed. The people making the formula who are trying to mimic breast milk are most likely going to be using some form of chemical in there, that you are brand new to you might not know if they’re allergic to anything in it, and i’m not saying that you 100% can not feed the child with formula, you just don’t know what is going inside of it. The infant also isn’t getting antibodies, antibodies are passed to the infant when the mother in breastfeeding the infant but since the infant isn’t being breastfed the child isn’t getting any antibodies or nutrients the mother would give the infant.

What they have in common?

They don’t have a lot of things in common but one of the big factors are that the infant is being fed and the parent is doing the best they can to maintain them healthy.

What it takes to be a good parent:

Being a good parent means you have to love and support the child with the decision they make when they get older. When the child gets older and they choose to live a certain way you don’t have to support the child but it would be best if you do support the child because then they’re going to overthink and blame themselves for not trying hard enough to please you. To be a good parent you should be economically stable so you can support the child and make sure it has everything it needs, the parents also need to be open minded, have good communication skills, and have trust in the child.

Facing criticism while breastfeeding:

When Breastfeeding in public or in a room with people you don’t know you might be scared of being judged for breastfeeding. If you know you’re going to be breastfeeding always prepare like bringing a blanket that covers you and the infant or maybe asking to go into a separate room if possible to be able to breastfeed the infant, incase some people start looking at you funny and you are uncomfortable. Although some people don’t mind you others may not have the same opinion on breastfeeding in public. Sometimes it is better to go into a more private place even though you don’t mind other people will go at you and say a lot of hateful stuff to you which makes you sad and then obviously your hormones change which goes into the milk and those hormones will make the infant sad and that could possibly negatively affect it, so it’s better if you go into a more private place to breastfeed the child.

My thoughts on teen pregnancy:

I personally do not have a problem on teen pregnancy, I know people who do have a problem with teen pregnancy but that’s their personal opinion because I don’t know if they wanted to get pregnant or they were sexually abused/raped. Most teen parents are usually seen as teenagers who were reckless and were most likely under some influence but that’s not always the case so you shouldn’t really judge a person without knowing anything about them.

Other People thought on teen pregnancy:

“Unless you are financially stable i don’t think you should have a baby unless your parents are willing to help you with the child” – Jolee Cruz

“It is hard, it is not recommendable for a teen because it affects peoples lives and the parson had to get financially stable and it could damage the persons friendships with family, but just because they get pregnant as a teen does not mean that they are a bad person” – Alana Clark

“I think it is fine, because you don’t know their situation so I shouldn’t judge them when if they’re pregnant.” – Edgar Aguilar

“It’s not a good thing, to many responsibilities they should should be focused on school instead. ” – Michael O’rourke

“I don’t think it’s good because teens aren’t mentally ready, they’re physically ready, but they need to get financially stable ”- Sam Parent

“It’s kind of irresponsible to let it happen but if it does happen I wouldn’t really care” -Maddi Sprain

“I don’t think it is good because teens aren’t ready to be parents because they aren’t mentally and financially ready”- Kaleb Bebar

Teachers thoughts on teen pregnancy:

“ I think teens should do anything in their power to avoid becoming pregnant until they are older. In general, teens do not have the resources to give their children the best possible life. Most young adults without children struggle to pay bills and make ends meet, this would be made much harder with a child. They may not be able to go to college and therefore have low paying jobs for the rest of their life. They also may lack other skills needed and may not be mentally prepared. ”- C. Raimond

“I think that very few people are prepared for pregnancy when they are in their teen years. When you’re a kid you think you have the whole world figured out, but not until you’re older do you realize how many things you know nothing about. I think that some people are capable of being parents when they’re teenagers, but often times it’s not what’s best for parent or baby. Having a child when you’re young affects the rest of your life. It affects your career choices, post-secondary education and ability to develop friendships and romantic relationships. I also think it creates problems later in life when mother and daughter are both very young. Sometimes the relationship between child and young parent is more friendly that it is parent-child. The child does not respect their parents because they view them as very similar to themselves. It is also an extreme economic hardship that is hard for the parent but also other loved-ones that try to support. It is also a hardship on society that pays taxes to help support those people with tax money and food stamps and housing stipends. In summation, I think that some people are capable of having a child in their teenage years, but I cannot think of any circumstances in which it is beneficial for anybody involved, and there surely are a lot of people affected by it.”-J. Pankow

What they have in common:

Almost every person said that it wasn’t a good idea to become a teen mom but in my opinion some pregnancies aren’t meant to happen like if a person were to get raped she wouldn’t want people knowing that that happened to her so she might even forget that there’s a chance she might be pregnant because of all the trauma that she had to face. Although some aren’t preventable, there’s a lot of teen moms who could of avoided becoming pregnant, some just decide that pulling out is going to do the trick and they won’t get pregnant. Some people use protection like condoms and they don’t notice that there a small hole in it which results into the girl getting pregnant without them noticing until it’s way too late. Another thing that two people said was that it’s going to affect the way the child looks at the parents when they get older, since their parents are younger than most parents would be they aren’t going to really see them as an adult they more so as a friend.

Pregnancy-Related Deaths:

A pregnancy related death is when the person that carries the infant die because of the infant inside of her, something when bad during the labor, her body can’t handle the changes, or the carrier doesn’t get her medical needs. There are ways to prevent that from happening but people just say that that is never gonna happen to them. Some people can’t afford monthly or weekly check ups to see if the pregnancy is going well, some are too busy working so they can afford it which affect the infant, sometimes negatively and sometimes positively because the mother does need to be doing some exercise to make the labor easier. According to https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/maternalinfanthealth/pregnancy-relatedmortality.htm ”Racial disparities persist. The risk of pregnancy-related deaths for black women is 3 to 4 times higher than those of white women.”, which means women are color are more likely to have pregnancy related deaths than women who are white, some aren’t being paid as much as you pay a women who is white which would cause the women of color to not be able to afford or meet the infants need; according to https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/maternalinfanthealth/pregnancy-relatedmortality.htm, “Sadly, about 700 women die each year in the United States as a result of pregnancy or delivery complications.”, so it’s not just black women but it’s more common for black women to die because of things that relate to pregnancy than white women to die of pregnancy-related.

Conclusion:

Taking everything into account, it doesn’t really matter how you feed the baby, it just has to be fed; some ways may be more healthier than other ways, some may not but in the end you just have to feed the baby, it doesn’t matter what you use to feed the baby even though some people might see it as wrong at the end of the day the baby is being fed and it’s going to be healthy no matter how you chose to feed the baby. As long as the baby is getting all their needs nobody should judge the parents for their decisions on what to do with the child.

Main argument: (205)

The hypothesis of this project is: ‘How do newspaper journalists frame the issue of breastfeeding and nipple exposure?’ Attention was drawn to the way media uses language in order to resolve the way they enculturated sexism. Women can gain control over how their bodies are represented if supported by health care news regarding the word ‘nipple’. The shame of public breastfeeding can be removed if the word ‘nipple’ removes stigmatisation. There is room for change as constructivism shows us that language shapes our understanding. Equality for women concerning their body can be changed the way they are referred to in public because words are an important factor. If journalists were aware of how their coverage negatively affects mothers, women and babies, they might be more supportive and change their approach. This project is still limited because of the theoretical dimensions and quantity of the study. The ‘Free the Nipple’ campaign proved useful for this project. The image of women won’t change if their bodies are still seen as a form of pleasure. The stories behind ‘nip-slips’ will still remain a problem. The word ‘nipple’ needs to be used more in health news than in tabloids, then only will it be more accepted in public discussions.

Key findings: (249)

An important finding in this article suggests that public discourse is shaped by the journalism’s role with the repeated use of the word ‘nipple’. Key words were used in the news to identify what emotion they are related to. There were four main key words taken out of the articles: breasts, breastfeeding, nipple and nip-slip. Out of these key words, they summed it up to the following feelings and emotions: nutritious; dishonourable and mischievous; sick (linked with cancer) and pleasurable. Breast cancer is an important and crucial story concerning survivors, breast operations, medical treatments etc., whereas the stories about women’s bodies concerning breasts are seen as a form of pleasure and have a negative connotation. Regardless of the reason of exposing your body, as a woman, you will usually be humiliated and ill-treated for it. Non-tabloid news stories were concerned with stories about how social media reflected a women’s body negatively; these included Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. The exposure of a man’s breasts is seen as a joke whether linked to injuries or entertainment. Celebrities that had their breasts enlarged and were confident about it receive a lot of attention and became more appealing. Many news sites objectified women’s bodies whereas others were concerned with being straightforward about the subject. Breastfeeding however, seemed to be nurturing, healthy and women that breastfed became romanticised. Nipples are always reflected negatively in a debauched way. Nipples are ridiculed when shown to men; disgraced when exposed and removed from courteous conversations on breastfeeding

Approach: (263)

The ten biggest newspapers in the United States are evaluated to study how breastfeeding is framed, this project represents a textual analysis. Women’s magazines are used as the main source for researchers in order to gain for information about breastfeeding. This project uses qualitative textual analysis and a critical exploration of news coverage and the linguistic strategies used to represent women’s bodies. Critical discourse analysis examines the use of language and the way it is used in context. A universal understanding of breastfeeding is investigated through multi-modal analysis which relates words with images. This project is based around word-based stories using the top ten local newspapers in the US based on Sunday circulation measure by the Audit Bureau of Circulation. There are two benefits of this project which allowed the researchers to create a wider source of information about breastfeeding with a larger geographical range and more newspapers in local coverage. A list of key words regarding nipples and breasts were made and used to search for newspapers. Researchers had to subscribe to certain newspapers in order to get the full article if it couldn’t be downloaded. All the stories were analysed and read, dismissing those about non-human perspectives e.g. chicken breasts. All three authors participated in downloading the articles and their textual analysis which included photographs. An open-coding system was used in order to extract the key themes from the findings, regarding nipples and breastfeeding. The final four themes were found in blog posts or subjective columns. More than two thousand articles presented in the news regarding breastfeeding and nipples were used.

Research focus: (250)

The focus on the word ‘nipple’ in news reports are used negatively which don’t help normalising and purifying articles. This project investigated breastfeeding in public and exposure of nipples in American articles. During breastfeeding nipple exposure is minimal which is generally overlooked or disregarded however protest against public breastfeeding is seen as offensive and sparks researcher’s interests, especially the publics views on a women’s body, health and breastfeeding. The shamefulness surrounding the word ‘nipple’ examines the way language supports the social ban. Concerning public health and the ethical standards set by journalists, not only does is this vital to the feminist approach but many other approaches as well. The standardised representations of women include discussions that either mimic or encourage patriarchy. There is a proven theory that media and news is a social construction embedded in everyday narratives. Breastfeeding in the news industry cultural tensions about nature and sexuality. Most studies of breastfeeding is positive, encouraging women to breastfeed because it has health benefits for the child and the mother. There is less media coverage and campaigns for breastfeeding in public as a matter of convenience compared to it successfully used by health promoters for breastfeeding in communities. The feminist argument claims that even in language, women’s bodies have always been objectified and shamed for their body parts as well, e.g. breasts, thighs, hips etc. The word choice in news coverage regarding a women’s body needs to be re-evaluated and controlled because the media represents it in a negative way. The topic in this project should be valid regarding health concerns and headlines made by the sex-appeal of women.

Introduction

Over the past few decades, infant feeding has been under the spotlight of public opinion. In the United States and other developed countries, debates have arisen about maternal leave policies, breastfeeding in public, and formula food risks. A similar infant feeding debate also exists in developing countries, yet, the discussions are focused on corrupt infant formula promotion, the lack of sanitation, and infectious diseases linked to infant feeding practices. Since 1990, the World Health Organization (WHO) has officially recommended exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of the infant’s life. However, the universal advice given by health professionals and organizations has been variable and controversial since the early 1900s. Breastfeeding became a highly debated topic with the rise of infant formula, shifting the matter of infant feeding from private to public. A review of the history of infant feeding and the evolution of the disagreements reveals that the formula vs breastfeeding ‘milk wars’ were not only determined by scientific theory and empirical studies. Politics, economics, and socio-cultural norms also fueled both sides of the debate. The controversial messages fluctuating throughout history reflect the changes in scientific knowledge nested within these socio-ecological forces. In this paper, I will trace the evolution of this debate from an epidemiology perspective from the 1800s to the present day.

Throughout history, European and American scientists have led the way with their hypotheses and theories about health. Until the late 1800s, the miasma theory had persisted to be the most popular reason for explaining why disease occurs. Edwin Chadwick, William Farr, and Florence Nightingale were among the proponents for this theory, equating bad odor with disease. With the available empirical evidence, scientists believed this theory provided a satisfactory explanation for outbreaks of cholera, plague, and other infections. However, in the late 1800s, Louis Pasteur and others introduced the germ theory. Robert Koch defined the four postulates that are required for disease to occur in the 1890s and the germ theory took the place of miasma as the accepted scientific viewpoint explaining how disease is spread. The rise of the germ theory also gave rise to the popularity of infant formula instead of animal milk or wet nurses as a breastmilk alternative, making infant feeding both safer and simpler for many mothers. This popularity soon spread out of the developed world to developing countries, as westernized infant formula marketing began to gain power over the feeding choices of women. Opinions about breastfeeding and infant formula have existed since the mass introduction of formula at the turn of the 20th century. The debate between the two feeding practices gradually gained steam throughout the 20th century and continues today. Tracking the evolution of these feeding practices illustrates the complexity of the milk wars and the forces behind them.

The Alternative Breast Milk Market

The need for breast milk alternatives is rooted in biological, social, and economical reasons. According to recent market research, the breast milk substitute market is predicted to reach USD 22.1 billion by 2025. On a global basis, the market is expected to exceed USD 119 billion by 2025. These astounding numbers reflect the lowering of breastfeeding practices, increased birth rate in some countries, and the rise in the number of working women. However, the demand for breast milk substitutes is not novel. Throughout history, milk alternatives have always had their place in society. Due to varying reasons including lactation failure, illness, death, personal reasons, workplace policies, social attitudes, and/or economic reasons, the demand for breastmilk alternatives has always ebbed and flowed. During the 19th century, it was more common for mothers to die during childbirth. Therefore, alternate ways had to be available to feed the surviving infant without their birth mother available to breastfeed. Aside from maternal deaths, many obstacles to breastfeeding fuel the need for alternative milk supplies for infants. Chronic or infectious illness can result in a lactation failure in which not enough milk is produced. In addition, illnesses such as HIV-1 (Human Immunodeficiency Virus -1) and CMV (Cytomegalovirus) can be transmitted from the mother to the infant through breast milk and put the infant at risk of disease.

Furthermore, some women have lactation failure for unknown reasons. At the turn of the 20th century, as the United States was rapidly urbanizing and industrializing, more women were beginning to work in the factories. The gilded age driven by money and power began to change the position of women in society. Instead of being homemakers with time to feed their babies on demand, women were now in the workforce with limited feeding schedules. The introduction of infant-care manuals and detailed feeding schedules emphasized the need for timed feeds. The attempt to schedule a natural, biologic process, in turn, reduced milk supplies of women. More and more mothers began to complain to their doctors about their lack of milk supply and the medicalization of feeding came into play. At this time, one of the most popular theories for lactation failure was that lactation was a disappearing function of the female body through evolution. Another theory was that the increase in educating girls during their puberty years was leading to the brain competing with the reproductive system for energy. Therefore, these doctors believed that an increase in brain usage was reducing milk output. With these ideas circulating the medical community, there was a widespread fear that lactation failure was becoming a growing and irreversible problem.

It is now known that lactation failure without disease or injury can be due to insufficient gland tissue that blocks the tubes required for producing milk on demand. This type of lactation failure is usually acquired by the mother naturally and is not diagnosed until the baby attempts to feed once born. However, as seen at the turn of the 20th century, maternal behaviors like scheduling feeding times or restricting feeds can induce lactation failure because the baby sucking stimulates milk production. These issues still exist today with restrictive work schedules for mothers that often do not give adequate time or privacy to pump or feed. Therefore, whether lactation failure is part of a woman’s biological make-up or if it occurs due to feeding behaviors, the reduction in milk supply is rarely a choice of the mother. External forces play a role: biology, social attitudes towards pumping in the workplace, and economic reasons for women with low paying jobs that do not have lunch breaks or paid time off, like a waitress.

Nevertheless, throughout time some women that are able to breastfeed have chosen not to. It has been documented that in the 19th and 20th centuries, predominantly wealthy and royal families paid someone else to breastfeed their infant for them. Sometimes these mothers were working so they were not with their baby enough to feed. Other times, breastfeeding was considered a low social class practice so wet nurses were hired. In more recent times, some women choose to use modern breast milk alternatives like infant formula or animal milk because of the ease of having a bottle ready, being able to have the father or other family members feed the infant, and not have the mess or pain of breastfeeding. For women who are able to breastfeed and are faced with the choice of whether to or not, the influence of social norms, marketing of substitutes, and cost all play a role in the decision making process. The prevalence of breastfeeding vs alternatives follows patterns that can be understood when we nest the trends into their socio-ecological environments.

The History of Infant Feeding

Since lactation failure and choice not to breastfeed has been documented throughout history, the substitutes to breast milk have an evolution of their own. The first medical encyclopedia, The Papyrus Ebers, from Egypt in 1550 BC advises rubbing the mother back with swordfish bones to help get a supply of milk. From this time, around 2000 BC until the 20th century, wet nurses were used as the primary alternative feeding. A wet nurse is defined as “a woman who breastfeeds another’s child” and was a well organized profession in the United States. These jobs were often filled by poor, African American women in the U.S. who sometimes could not support their own child. For this and other reasons, the wet nurse practice raised many ethical issues and was objected in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. Nevertheless, the practice remained popular for wealthy families who adopted orphans as cheap slaves or did not want to or could not breastfeed their own infants.

Aside from ethical issues, the medical reports describing the early years of wet nursing show distrust in the practice. In addition, these writings reflect some of the scientific viewpoints of the time and the lack of knowledge about the spread of disease. In the early 14th century, medical professionals were advising wet nurses to move around to ensure their flow of milk was activated. In addition, the wet nurse was recommended to be a healthy 25-35 year old who had recently delivered a male child. Evidently, the views of male superiority and the theories about the mechanism of milk production were highlighted by these advisories. During the middle ages, society switched to regarding wet nursing as a practice that should only be used in desperate circumstances of lactation failure. For example, in 1577, Omnibonus Ferrarious, an italian scientist interested in feeding practices emphasized that the mother of the infant was a better choice than a wet nurse where possible. Other scientists, like Frenchman Jacques Guillemeau continued arguing against the wet nurse practice through the 17th century. In his work, The Nursing of Children, Guillemeau explained that breast milk could transmit imperfections from the wet nurse to the child and subsequently to the parents of the infant. A more specific point on this issue was that wet nurses should not have red hair because of a common hot temperament associated with redheads that tainted the breast milk. These ideas that disease was spread by unseeable particles transmitted from person to person added to the early push for breastfeeding.

Despite these lashbacks, many wealthy families hired a wet nurse due to cultural, societal, or personal choice or biological necessity. Even when the medical recommendations of the time differed in opinion, the external social, biological and cultural forces determined the woman’s decision. Many women claimed that breastfeeding was unfashionable because it would ruin their figures, prevent them from wearing the clothes they wanted to, and interfere with social activities. Furthermore, some parents hired a wet nurse because it was cheaper than hiring a house maid or a business hand. That way, the mother could attend to the house work of administrative duties of her husband’s duties without being disrupted by breastfeeding. In turn, governments began to respond to the regular practice of wet nursing with laws to help prevent poor women neglecting their own infants to earn money by wet nursing another woman’s infant.

Throughout the 18th century, the scientific theory that pushed against the use of wet nurses was finally heard by the wealthy families that used it. However, just as more wealthy mothers began breastfeeding their own infants, the wet nurse business shifted to low income families. The industrial revolution increased the laboring duties of mothers and left them little choice but to use the only alternate feeding practices for their young infants. Since the poorer families did not have high financial budgets for a safe wet nurse, infant mortality rates were heavily influenced by untrustworthy and underqualified wet nurses who often engaged in dangerous practices like using opiates to help infants sleep. The rise in unsafe practices stimulated more scientific theory to be published to raise awareness of the benefits of breastfeeding. The works of William Buchan, who wrote Domestic Medicine and others spread a distrust in wet nurses and helped shift the practice away from mothers of all socioeconomic statuses by the end of the 18th century.

In line with the rise of the germ theory of disease, the development of a hygienic feeding bottle also played a significant role in the decline of wet nurses. The bottle offered another widespread alternative that was deemed safe and easy to use. Before the 19th century feeding bottles of all kinds had been used to feed animal milk or bread soaked in water to infants. However, these feeding vessels were often hard to clean and the build up of germs led to high rates of infant morbidity and mortality. During the mid 19th century, the modern feeding bottle started to evolve. In 1896, a refined open-ended bottle was developed in England and was very popular. Leather and rubber teats added to the bottle created the modern feeding bottle similar to the ones we see today. This invention led to a scientific focus on the nutrition benefits from non human milk that could be easily put in the bottles instead of breast milk. This shift to artificial feeding provided a gateway to infant formula as a medicalized, marketable, and modern alternative to breast milk.

Annotated Bibliography

1. Boyer, K. (2018). The Emotional Resonances of Breastfeeding in Public: The Role of Strangers in breastfeeding Practice.Emotion, Space and Society,26, 33–40. https://doi-org.ezproxy.snhu.edu/10.1016/j.emospa.2016.09.002

In this article, breastfeeding is discussed as being a “iconic symbol of succor” and “comfort giving.” The article is explaining how breastfeeding is natural and has many health benefits for not only the baby but for the mother as well. It also goes into detail about how breastfeeding may also cause physical and psychic discomfort. The article also conducted interviews, surveys, and participation observations explaining how strangers play an important role on how they shape a mother’s experiences, thoughts and feelings about their breastfeeding choice, to either breastfeeding public or private.

2. Breastfeeding in Public. (2016). Salem Press Encyclopedia. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.snhu.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ers&AN=126518346&site=eds-live&scope=site

Breastfeeding your child is the first way as humans we nourished our children. Human nature to turn to your child when they are hungry and crying to feed them and calm them. Since the introduction of the formula, it gave women a sense of freedom and was also created to help children who were malnourished and needed more. Bottle feeding was very expensive and became a symbol for wealth, and privilege. Breastfeeding became a “primitive act” only done by the poor. Also adding that since the introduction of “Playboy” the female breasts were being looked at more sexually than as a way to provide nourishment for you child, so they were now becoming sexually objectified. By the 1970s breastfeeding rates started to increase.

3. Breastmilk- Netflix Documentary (2014)

This documentary followed the lived of different women and revealed the difficulties and rewards of breastfeeding their child, or children. It shed light on idea that breastfeeding should be socially accepted to be done in public because it is natural. It also revealed how hard it is as working mothers to be forced to bottle feed their child because they are afraid to request time during their work shift to pump for breastmilk. This documentary discusses how in society pregnancy is viewed as beautiful and natural but then the aftermath of what is considered “not so beautiful” after the baby arrives.

4. Breast or bottle?: Contemporary Controversies in Infant Feeding Policy and PracticeKoerber, Amy (Amy Lunn)Columbia, South Carolina: The University of South Carolina Press, [2013]

Koerber reveals the changing arguments of whether “breast is best” or if bottle feeding is. Discussing the benefits of breastfeeding through textual analysis, archival research, and interviews. Koerber also uses a case study to explain whether there is a relationship between scientific data in regards to breastfeeding and its impact on medical policy and practices.

5. Murphy, E. (1999). “Breast is best”: Infant feeding decisions and maternal deviance. Sociology of Health & Illness,21(2), 187–208. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.snhu.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=sih&AN=3254042&site=eds-live&scope=site

Breastfeeding being considered deviant behavior, women face many challenges in which they are forced to feel that they have to defend their stance on whether they should breastfeed in public or not. Feeling judged and pressured by societal norms. Data from longitudinal qualitative interview study explains the choices made by mothers. Video: The Issue of Breastfeeding in Public. (2011). Local Broadcast Video Content. CriticalMention, Inc. Retrieved from http://ezproxy.snhu.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edsggo&AN=edsgcl.260192341&site=eds-live&scope=site