Bringing Up Baby
As a new parent I found the recent C4 Bringing Up Baby series fascinating.
For anyone out there that missed the show, it is based around three different parenting approaches that were invented and popularised in different decades of the last century. Three baby experts mentor three couples during the first few months of their lives with their babies.
Over the next few weeks I will be writing posts that describe the three main parenting approaches of the mentors and what I think of them.
The experts were: Claire Scott (The Continuum Concept), Claire Verity (Dr Truby King), and Dreena Hamilton (Dr Benjamin Spock).
Furry Birthing Balls
A recent episode of the BBC’s Dragon’s Den included a pitch by a company that sell furry covers for birthing balls and gym balls. I thought it was a bit gimmicky at first, but, having used a birthing ball frequently in the last few months of pregnancy I realised that the covers could make the balls much more comfortable to sit and lean on. The ball could also be covered to match one’s décor so it wouldn’t look out of place in your living room.
Breastfeeding: The Window Seat or the Toilet Seat?
I was shocked and angered by the suggestion on C4’s Bringing Up Baby that a mother should breastfeed her baby in a toilet rather than in public. Dreena Hamilton, one of the shows three ‘baby experts’, explained that she was against a woman feeding her baby in public areas. This view was echoed by maternity nurse Claire Verity, who compared breastfeeding to dropping one’s trousers and exposing oneself at the dinner table.
As a breastfeeding mother I share the view expressed by Claire Scott , an advocate of the Continuum Concept, that breastfeeding is natural and we should have every right to feed our babies when they are hungry, wherever we may be.
Breastfeeding in public can, and is, done very discreetly by the majority of nursing mothers. As Claire Scott stated on the program, if it is an issue for those nearby, it is THEIR issue, not that of the nursing mother. My husband agrees, and objects to the sexist comment made by Dreena Hamilton, who implied men only think about one thing when they see a breast.
The toilet is a totally inappropriate place to feed a baby. Public toilets are often unclean and unhygienic places for going to the toilet, let alone for feeding a baby. Even though some shops have a designated nursing room for mothers, I would never use one as I don’t feel that breastfeeding is unnatural or dirty such that it would require me being quarantined from the rest of the world for half an hour at a time. Further more, it would be unsocial and boring for whoever I am shopping with. My husband in particular would rather I fed in public (with him) so he can spend time with his family.
The UK law is soon changing to make it illegal to stop a woman breastfeeding in a public place. This law couldn’t come soon enough as far as I am concerned, after all, would you want to eat your lunch in a toilet? I am sure Dreena Hamilton wouldn’t.
A New Arrival and New Beginning
I am pleased to announce the arrival of a son, born in July. He kept us waiting, being 10 days overdue, but now he is finally here and three months old already!
So after a long dry spell in terms of blogging I am now just about able to find a little bit of time each day to hopefully post a few times each week. Watch out for more posts soon!
