Mother and Baby’s response to the Press Commission Complaint.

In case you have missed all the hoo ha, in July the magazine Mother and Baby published an article entitled ‘I formula feed so what” you can read it here: http://www.lactivist.net/?p=1155

I and many others feel that the article negatively, insultingly and inaccurately portrays breastfeeding. A Facebook group was set up (Mother and Baby Magazine – please support breastfeeding) and you can see that breastfeeders and formula feeders were similarly upset by the article so the one good thing that came out of it was that we united!

A couple of us complained to the Press Complaints Commission – This was my complaint and rational:

Please explain how you believe the Code of Practice has been breached
Accuracy
“supposed health benefits [of breastmilk]”
Breastmilk has proven health benefits not supposed. “Over the past decades, evidence for the health advantages of breastfeeding and recommendations for practice have continued to increase. WHO can now say with full confidence that breastfeeding reduces child mortality and has health benefits that extend into adulthood” http://www.who.int/child_adolescent_health/topics/prevention_care/child/nutrition/breastfeeding/en/

“I also wanted to give my boobs at least a chance to stay on my chest rather than dangling around on my stomach”
Breastfeeding does not make breasts sag. “There was no difference in the extent of ptosis – the clinical term for breast sagginess – between those women who had breastfed and those who had not. ” http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7082473.stm

“felt like getting tipsy once in awhile” It is possible to drink occasionally and breastfeed “research shows that occasional drinking, such as one or two units once or twice a week, is not harmful to your baby while you are breastfeeding.” http://www.nhs.uk/chq/Pages/958.aspx?CategoryID=54&SubCategoryID=135

Which specific clause(s) of the Code are you complaining under?
1
Accuracy
i) The Press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information, including pictures.

Mother and Baby have now responded to the complaint – the delay was because the Press Complaints Commission wanted to see how it was dealt with in the next issue.

July 14^th 2010

Dear William

Thank you for your letter of 1 July detailing two complaints received at the PCC.

Both complaints are reacting to a one-page opinion feature by Deputy Editor Kathryn Blundell in our July issue who – for reasons explained in the piece – decided to go straight to bottle-feeding. It was her choice, and this was an account of her personal experience, which the feature made abundantly clear. Readers could choose whether or not they agreed with Kathryn, and it is clear that a few vocal individuals, including the two complainants, strongly disagreed with Kathryn’s choice and her reasoning. But we defend our right to publish that opinion, and defend Kathryn’s right to express it has her ‘Viewpoint’.

Context is very important too. Mother and Baby promotes breastfeeding as the norm. Last summer we featured a cover of a model breastfeeding her baby, a first for the UK magazine industry. We also conducted a campaign “Lets Make Britain Breastfeeding Friendly” and we went on GMTV to back this up. I personally wrote a piece in the Daily Mail saying how outrageous it was that women are often made to feel uncomfortable. We offer help and advice to women on a monthly basis on this very issue: our May edition included a siz page ‘get started and stick with it’ feature, our July issue (the one complained of) had a feature on the best breast pumps, and our next issue carries expert advice on surviving painful feeding in the early days.

Further, in the feature Kathryn herself states “ Sure breast milk has the edge over infant formula – it’s free, it doesn’t need heating up and you can whip up a feed in the middle of the night without having to get out of bed. Then there are all the studies that show it reduces the risk of breast cancer for you, and stomach upsets and allergies for your baby.” Read as a whole, and in proper context, I do not think that anyone should reasonably have concluded that Mother and Baby were saying that breast was not best.

If these complaints are to be considered further, and by default Kathryn’s piece is not considered simply as an opinion piece, we would be obliged to ask for the opinion of medical professionals. For example, we would need to look at whether the research Miss Cole refers to on ‘breast sagginess’ was peer reviewed and published, and how the opinion and conclusion of those doctors sits with the general body of medical opinion. Similarly, we would need medical opinion on the ‘extensive evidence’ on the risks of formula feeding that Miss Cole again refers to, and to understand how that research fits with the general body of medical opinion and research to the contrary. We would also need to have opinion on whether it would be possible to feel tipsy (as opposed to drinking one unit of alcohol) and safely breastfeed. Our view is that it is not be appropriate to ask the PCC to adjudicate on matters of opinion such as these.

You should be aware that we have been inundated by supportive emails and letters of Kathryn’s ‘Viewpoint’ article (43 in total which we are happy to make available in anonymous form for the PCC to see) applauding her honesty: in their opinion we have made readers feel ‘normal’ and less of a ‘failure’ for not managing to breastfeed – a situation which is incredibly common.

Please do call me if you would like to discuss any of this further, and I am sure you will let me know if you wish me to expand on anything.

Yours sincerely

Miranda Levy

Editor

Mother and Baby

So, I am on a fact gathering mission

Lisa Cole

Lactivist!