It would have to be one of the most polarising issues - and if you're going to enter into a debate about it, then you'd better put your gloves on, as Jamie Oliver found out this Easter.
In a radio interview he said Britain had the worst breastfeeding rate in the world – that’s based on a study by the Lancet that’s just come out. One in every 200 children in the UK is breastfed until the age of one, and that’s in comparison with 27% in the US, 35% in Norway and 44% here, in New Zealand.
In his interview, Oliver said this: “It’s easy, it's more convenient, it’s more nutritious, it’s better, it’s free.”
And he was right about almost everything except the first two words – “it’s easy”.
For some women, it’s not. For some women, breastfeeding is a living hell: They don’t have enough milk. Their babies may be tongue-tied. Some women struggle to get the technique right. Some develop mastitis.
Tiny babies sometimes find the process of breast-feeding exhausting, and they fall asleep halfway through. And then they wake up half an hour later crying because they’re hungry.
And so the cycle goes on. Mums are in tears, and dads don’t know what to do, and usually the mother-in-law wades in with some well-intentioned but poorly timed advice too…. And then it’s all on. Chaos. Trauma. Floods of tears.
Jamie Oliver says he doesn’t know why more women don’t do it for longer because, as he says, ”it’s easy” - and he wonders why he’s suddenly become public enemy number one.
Not all babies are created equal. And not all boobs are created equal, either. And a year is a long time to struggle on trying to breastfeed a baby if it's not working.
Adele, the pop star, the mega superstar, has waded into the debate. She told Jamie Oliver to go "f*ck himself" (good north London girl that she is) because breastfeeding is hard and some women can’t do it.
And just as an aside, think about the mixed messages women get when it comes to breastfeeding. You can't, for example, as a mother put an image of you breastfeeding your baby on Facebook because it will be taken down. It's offensive or explicit, apparently. So what's that about?
There are ways to address the issue of breastfeeding. There are ways to support women. Britain's talking about a national strategy, getting a government policy in place to improve support and leadership for women particularly for those returning to work - and that is the right way to approach it.
Jamie Oliver, by referring to breast-feeding as "easy" and suggesting women should just crack on with it, has done more harm than good.
Women know breast is best - it's just the breast isn't right for everyone.
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