Really Pants

Deputy Editor of Mother & Baby magazine: “couldn’t be fagged” to breastfeed.

Mother & Baby magazine has shocked breastfeeders and formula feeders alike by running the article “I bottle-fed. So what?” in this month’s magazine (July 2010). Read on to find out why Kathryn Blundell prefers a drink and her lover’s “fun bags” to breastfeeding.

Kathryn Blundell, Deputy Editor of Mother & Baby magazine has united breastfeeders and formula feeders in their hundreds, albeit accidentally, thanks to her recent article in this months Mother & Baby Magazine (July 2010). The article’s choice of language has been of particular interest along with Kathryn Blundell’s assertions about why she, personally, chose not to breastfeed. Her controversial in article which states that she chose to formula feed from birth because “I wanted my body back (And some wine)… I also wanted to give my boobs at least chance to stay on my chest rather than dangling around my stomach”

She goes on to say:

They’re part of my sexuality, too - not just breasts, but fun bags. And when you have that attitude (and I admit I made no attempt to change it), seeing your teeny, tiny, innocent baby latching on where only a lover has been before feels, well, a little creepy. I don’t think I’m the only one, either - only 52% of mums still breastfeed after six weeks. Ask most of the quitters why they stopped and you’ll hear tales of agonising three-hour feeding sessions and - the drama! - bloody nipples. But I often wonder whether many of these women, like me, just couldn’t be fagged or felt like getting tipsy once in a while

That’s right… a little creepy.

The article has sparked widespread outrage and prompted The Bundle Jungle owners to alert the breastfeeding community. One of the most prominent of whom, Lactivist, took a personal interest in this then set up the Facebook campaign: Mother and Baby Magazine - Please support breastfeeding in which the subject has been hotly debated. All of this has escalated and is currently on every UK news site, countless parenting blogs and has been hotly debated across the board.

Kathryn Blundle has, personally, responded to claims she is “anti-breastfeeding” by stating that:

My motivation behind writing this feature was to give a voice to those many women who simply do not want to breastfeed, and as a result of this choice have felt guilty, alienated and distressed.

while the editor, Miranda Levy, argues:

Mother & Baby is a constant vocal supporter of breastfeeding.

However, one could argue that, in writing such a piece, Kathryn Blundell has certainly not aided the cause of those feeling guilty for choosing to formula feed. The reality is, many mothers who make this choice are judged quite harshly and stereotyped. Often they are made to feel as though they couldn’t be bothered. Sadly, it would seem that Ms. Blundell has only served to reinforce that stereotype. One formula feeding other commented:

As a formula feeding mum who was unable to breastfeed, I am left wondering whether, thanks to this piece, people who see me giving my baby a bottle may assume that I am doing so because I could not be fagged to breastfeed / found the idea ‘creepy’

Whatever the motivations behind the article, the breastfeeding community has been left reeling and the baby feeding debate has been reignited. What is clear, however, is that this is not a breastfeeding vs formula feeding debate. It is a debate about just how much freedom of speech should be used when the well-being of society’s most vulnerable is compromised and it is a debate about how the deputy editor of the UK’s best selling baby magazine should be conducting herself on such an important issue.

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