This has been in the works for a year. The point is to change the perception from “best” to simply the standard. Therefore, formula-feeding is sub-standard. Personally, I think it’s too late to move the goalposts on this one. Making it *possible* for more mothers to breastfeed will go a longer way to increasing breastfeeding rates than revamping the marketing of the practice.

I for one advocate routine toplessness for all. Women should avoid implying that exposing a breast for any reason is a deviation from the norm. UNDRESSED IS BEST!

Thank you, James. Very well stated.

I, too, was surprised that it was even an issue. The midwifery practice I gave birth with had an “agreement” like their responsibility/patient responsibility, stuff like keeping in good health, etc. and one of the items was a mother’s commitment to breastfeed for a year. They also asked that we take a class (just a lunchtime thing) on breastfeeding basics. (Admittedly, this was cool and did provide good info.) And, of course, my doula was a certified LC, so I had her on hand, but didn’t really consider that I’d need help. It just seemed like people (and animals) have been doing this for thousands (millions?) of years, so how hard could it be. I was, like, whatever, of course…I never knew it was such an issue fraught with such drama til after I had my kid and learned about all this nonsense. That’s not to denigrate people who may have had issues, but I do wonder if the concern about issues is kind of self-prophesying/perpetuating. Breastfeeding just seemed like the normal thing to do, unless you had some kind of medical issue or something.

Yeah, I’m all for no campaign about breastfeeding, aside from “breastfeeding=normal.”
But I also think that nursing your kid in the middle of a man-made island at a water park is totally *ahem* over the top.

Although I agree that breastfeeding is a biological norm I can understand why the “breast is best” slogan was created. The purpose of marketing is to motivate the public to do something (buy, use, etc.) and with so many moms not knowing what to do, letting themselves drown in information, the marketing campaign just was trying to make it simple for them to decide what to do.
Mothers not always have all the support they need to breastfeed and at the same time, ignore the big commitment they are getting into. I remember making the decision to breastfeed half way thru my first pregnancy and read many experiences good and bad and had a good idea what to expect. I did not think it was going to be easy neither impossible so my LC at the birthcenter was so good that I did not need to talk to her after the birth of my second baby. However, many people will question me about my decision, telling me how incovenient it was and how I might not make enough milk for my baby or at work, they will ask me how long I have to pump and why, etc. My point is, first time moms should look for information about breastfeeding way before they have their babies and get a feeling of what to expect so they can stay firm on their decision.

Really, No Cones? No reason ANY infant on this planet has to be fed anything other than human milk??? Before you go around making sweeping statements like that, it would benefit you to stop and think for a second. Some babies can not have milk of ANY KIND, including human milk. My son has a rare disease called galactosemia (but he still counts as an infant on this planet, as per your comment above). Breastfeeding (or cow’s milk formula) would have killed him. He had to be placed on specialized formula, which, thankfully, exists for this reason.

Breastmilk is wonderful – I hope we can do everything to support every mom who needs help breastfeeding (and all moms, for that matter). But not every baby can have breastmilk.

The woman who was upset about her tween son seeing a breast should be the one “normalizing”. If the freaked mom were to give her son the idea that breasts and breast-feeding are normal and not taboo there wouldn’t be an issue. I think that’s one mom who has her own issues, and shouldn’t be putting them on someone else.