hehe.. i come in peace too!! .. I hope I'm not coming across as a breastfeeding nazi! I'll just give a brief summary of what I'm trying to say and I'll leave it at that, coz I don't wanna go around in circles and repeat myself LOL.

I wholeheartedly agree that all mums need support whichever way they go. I do believe that the support systems out there at the moment aren't pro-breastfeeding enough, it seems they are too quick to encourage comp-feeding, which is detrimental to establishing breastfeeding, and causes a downward spiral. Thus we do have more ff'ing mums than there really should be.

I do however think when it comes to campaigning for breastfeeding, it's unnecessary to quote statistics on how many women are unable to feed, as people do latch onto that and believe they are of that percentage, and with the lack of correct support available they give up too soon. I'm not talking about people that HAVE persevered for weeks on end, only to need to use formula. That's different, because they have explored all avenues and sought out support to continue feeding, and found it's just not working.

I also don't want that misunderstood to be ostracising the % that are unable to breastfeed. It's just that more emphasis on the 'normality' of breastfeeding needs to be out there. It is possible to set yourself up for failure by not having the confidence to begin with, and knowing there is an easy out should you have any problems. Emphasis needs to be on increasing available support to help people realise that you can overcome initial feeding problems and continue feeding before formula is even brought into the equation.

I hope that makes sense. I'm meeting more and more mums telling me the saga's of their breastfeeding, and they found it too hard, so went to formula, but I know for a fact they didn't have sufficient support, and didn't seek support, because they figured they could just turn to formula if it was too hard.. or else they started comping, and found before they knew it, they were full time formula.

I also find that these ff mums are very quick to tell me their story (before I've even said anything!), and it's almost like they're giving me a warning not to start talking about breastfeeding.. which I find sad, because like I said, it makes us breastfeeders feel guilty for being able to breastfeed, when we should be able to feel free to feed out in the open and talk about breastfeeding as a normal thing.

Phew.. ok.. that's my 2c.. or maybe 50c worth! LOL. I will be quiet now.