I think, though my knowledge of Advertising standards is pretty slim these days.

It's not me that sets the standards.

I certainly no longer expect TVNZ to get science stories right. I'm not even surprised that their response to the complaint is "LOL who care's how old some plannet…

I think you're setting your sights a little high for the 6pm news bulletin. We're lucky they didn't try and live cross the 240 million light years.

Regarded as way too hard. By guess who..

I know, and remain in complete disagreement. If the supernova was as close as reported it would be visible with the naked eye.

The item, as presented, is…

Not material I believe means…

In my opinion:
(Dominic Sheehan and co. are wrong, wrong, wrong in finding that the 240 light years vs. 240,000,000 light years issue was not material to the item…

This is a fair enough call.

With "births" the focus should be on seeing that the right thing happens the right way as regards the delivery to ensure the safety of mother and baby.

Decent monitoring…

I don’t have particularly strong feelings around childbirth and/or breastfeeding, not being a parent. What I do have…

Quite. Fundamental attribution error is just easier for the intellectually lazy. This government loves it (see welfare 'dependency', disability services, etc).

There are two separate issues at hand here, in either case.

The first is the degree to which breastmilk confers benefits to a child (if any).

The second is the degree to which these benefits (if they occur) obligate the mother to provide these, (and importantly,…

"normal" is seldom a helpful part of the medical model

I think that's part of the problem, Jessica. There are systemic factors that militate against breastfeeding (as listed in your post), and yet pressure is put on individual women to provide the fix.

It's the devil's music!

I love the note that HMG sent " an angry letter " to Burdon for including pipe music! Talk about over-reaching!

The single was split into 2 parts to fit on the 45. You had to flip the record to hear the whole song.
That would show... dedication?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cz7ROQSXgP0&feature=related

I've noticed this too. My coffee group folks and other friends varied widely in breastmilk/formula feeding patterns,…

I retweeted this earlier today, but never thought to put it here. A fertility clinic ad (SWF), the first in Australia to show woman giving birth

(And the context). Via Lew Stoddart.

I can so picture that, my son.

Without having seen the FB page, it's hardly unexpected. Arguments on the internet come in all sorts of varieties, but those between women (with the odd unwary man jumping in) over how to bear,…

Thanks. I think.

Sky Pilot? That would be my grandfather. True story. And Father Mulcahy is one of my fancy dress options.

I think I should stop there.

In your case, I'd substitute distilled spirits and a Playstation, but YMMV...

The first is the degree to which breastmilk confers benefits to a child (if any).

The second is the degree to which these benefits (if they occur) obligate the mother to provide these, (and importantly, other parties to facilitate…

It helps you realise that a change in attitude may help...

You're welcome.

FM

Youthful spirits and joie de vivre? Great…

I tend to think that people who accuse PAS of this haven't read the tagline, right at the top of the page. It's a community; of course members have some things in common, be it views and opinions or just an idea of the "right" way to disagree.…

I know, I know, I was just thinking that as I hit "post". But I'm happy in my delusions. ;-)

It did appear that…

It always surprises me how adroitly avoided this piece of medical history tends to be, considering...well, everything.

Interesting, thanks.

according to these doctors, the system collapsed when their colleagues no longer felt safe to disclose information about…

As part of an ongoing research project I have spoken to a number of doctors in the last…

+1

Why I hang out here! If I say something, I know I’m being heard, and I'm eager to hear other people and learn from what they have to say. And it’s about the only place I know…

Which I'm kind of surprised…

I hereby promise to retire the term and use the non-gendered "condescending ass-bag" instead.

Fair enough. I'm feeling a bit grumpy this morning, I'll grant you…

I’d suggest you take two small squares of 180 sandpaper, two clothespegs, some string and a couple of weights and come back to us in an hour or so to talk about your valid experience.

This is fist-pumpingly awesome.

It wasn't all bad, to be fair, B. The medical concept of hysteria did…

I'll have barely started my 30s – that's terrifying. Which is in itself a construct of modern attitudes to child-rearing and -birth, of course.

Good, because speaking as one of the lucky 95%, if you were, I'd suggest you take two small squares of 180 sandpaper, two clothespegs, some string and a couple of weights and come back to us in an hour or so to…

Nah, it's fine. My mother turned 60 a month after I turned 16, and it wasn't her age that made that year terrifying for her.

__Modern is a funny concept. The whole early 20th century hygiene movement…

Well, yeah… but no. The irony is that the occasion for this whole discussion was a pretty solid feature in North & South written by a female journo who’s hardly…

Don't be naive. No experience is context-free, and smart people recognise that.

If you turn up to a conversation about women's health and say something…

If he'd done that, sure. If he did, it was in one clumsily worded phrase out of a several paragraph post.

I'm not going to check, but I'm pretty sure he clarified…

Wow. Given what you’ve just written, that is truly astonishing.

I'm sure if I invite to go off and find another forum in which to offer your lofty commentary on everyone else you'll merely regard your point…

I've said here before, I don't particularly like it as a term, and I very rarely use it. (Though I did enjoy…

Which site is this you're talking about? Because it cannot be the one that produced this comment thread.

Yeah, us and our appalling lack of self-knowledge. Ross is a top guy, but it was patronising to attribute difficulties in breastfeeding to an incorrect attitude, and it was always going to get…

I think it's because no-one actually treats what anyone writes with any genuine respect. No-one approaches things in good faith. They're always looking for the agenda, trying to 'fit it into a…

And that's cool because, you know, there's a pretty clear ethical…

Modern is a funny concept. The whole early 20th century hygiene movement technologised and dehumanised things in a big way, but it also brought infant and maternal mortality down a lot. Women in Queen Victoria's day, including…

Amazing episode. Mind you, many are..

Still? Really?

When people stop doing it, we can stop using the term. A winner all the way around!

This is not a useful direction for the discussion to take. I presume it's intended as humour, but it does not achieve its purpose. Back off, please.

Because she was angry.…

Maternity funding arangements still bear the marks of that market experiment.

We owe all those involved in the Cartwright Inquiry and subsequent establishment of the Health and Disability Commission and its code of patient rights a big debt of gratitude…

Mmm, it's a continuum. There's a certain amount of social pressure involved, when you're trying to do the right and generous thing. On the other side, natural birth…

that's something to do with fanfic, right?

A misunderstanding perhaps. I meant "frame" as in the…

I accused you of Mansplaining. Not manslashing, though the fact you clearly didn’t read what I wrote rather illustrates the point.

As Craig says, sometimes it is better to shut up and listen.

(I was going to write a massive rant, but…

There were stupid hospital nurses (like the one that told my mother – when her youngest child (of6!) couldnt…

Well, yes – and one really nice thing about Public Address System is that it’s a place…

Just checked out scitechdaily.com......

Why didn't I use that word !!!!

PS: Hols $%^)@ delayed......hospitals.....

Are you talking 'world population'?
That is untrue.
Are you talking ANZ population?
That is also untrue.
The majority of our population were & are, breastfed.

We found the Soy fromula was good for us espcially once she started crawling.

No it is not it is rather pedantic, fighting pedantry with pendandtry leads to further pendantry and is an obsessive complusion.

I’m slightly antsy about this prospect with Pending Number Two. I know that in the first few months with Number One I was breastfeeding him about eight hours a day (he was…

Well of course not. I think you're maybe making some leaps between me think breastfeeding is great and your already established idea of how society views breastfeeding in general or something.

Let me be clear once again; I pass no…

They also have four stomachs, one udder and lord knows how many teats on it (I'm a city girl). Pretty big physiological differences if you ask me. Also, if you're no good as a dairy cow at…

Breastfeeding is only free if women's time counts for nothing. When women have to go back to work after the 14 weeks' leave runs out, it gets so much harder. Exclusive breastfeeding means that baby and…

Not when it comes with a huge dose of judginess about being a bad mother if you find that you can’t breastfeed.

Well of course. Was I being judgey? I don't think so. It certainly wasn't my intention. I just…

Some women can breastfeed easily, produce more than enough milk, and are able to just carry on. Some women find producing enough milk very hard indeed, especially if they have other children to care for.…

And being a paraplegic is all in your head, no less. :)

I believe breastfeeding while running is the new trend.

Hmm, one might conclude that's what she was trying to say, if one were feeling charitable.

Sure. The problem is the line between encouraging women to breastfeed, and shaming and obstructing those who can't, no matter how legitimate their…

Funny, that's exactly what Shelley Bridgeman said and I believe…

Also, there may be problems with the system around midwifery that need to be addressed, but it goes without saying they're pretty freakin' great.

Anecdotal story here; someone (maybe my mother) was told not to breastfeed her first…

field workers...
peer review
I alway's thought that that was…

and multiple miscarriages in one case

Touche.

Manslashing…

Whereas there's a lot wrong with guilt-tripping women who…

Does it occur to you that that might actually have been all Chisholm had to work with? It is not her job to make someone look good when they weren't.

She was framed explicitly from the outset (p48) as an angry woman.

For College of Midwives’ Guilliland, the debate over the quality of midwives is frustratingly, tediously circular and anti-feminist. To call Guilliland defensive is to understate the sense of pent-up fury which colours…

Apart from anything else, I get the impression that had she really been intending to write anti-feminist stitch-up, her hour-long interview with…

Thank you Deborah for this post and for sharing your story. It further confirms my view that this is an individual thing, and comparing it to farming, coaching…

Truth to power, sir.

Clearly described as the registrar's fault – but as you say not allowed to interfere with the desired conclusion.

I simply don't have time to fisk the article but even given my limited knowledge of maternity policy, it's hardly a balanced account.

As I noted in the the original post, the result of our n=1 study was that a home birth with a midwife was good and emotionally satisfying (and that's very important) and I don't regret doing it for a second.

Our hospital experience…

You could, though as you note there are a total of:

3000 midwives and 225 obstetricians

Not without committing major selection bias. OBs are far more likely to be involved at the risky end of the business, when things go wrong.

I don't think…

Yes, and the article acknowledged them as a proxy in the meantime. Having to resort to that does seem nuts.

I encourage you to think of how the Linda Bryder kerfuffle went down, and the establishment blocs pushing this type of 'debate' in the background.

As the article notes (and Russell emphasised), we lack the relevant local evidence base so it's good to see the Minister quoted as financing some of the data side of that.

From a very small sample on the specific issue of code of rights complaints — which aren't the same thing as medical outcomes.

From the last batch of 44 complaints about…

*Gulps with hysterical laughter* Anyone who can keep up breastfeeding while working in an office, let alone a shop or factory floor, has my congratulations and admiration.

Nice threadmerge, George!

Should be the start of any debate, really. I don't have an opinion – really – but in this case…

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/29/breast-feeding-doll-is-coming-to-america/

I still amuse myself by imaging our HR reps reaction if I…

I have friends with new twins who didn’t get to see a lactation consultant for FOUR DAYS. That can be the difference between success or failure with breastfeeding.

That is EXACTLY what happened to me,…

It's very easy to buy a baby doll without a bottle. Not so easy to buy one that comes accompanied by a disembodied…

But the big change was autonomy for midwives. There…

(I fed plenty of breast milk via bottle.)

Notice how they only advertise "toddler milk", and the one I'm most familiar with starts with "Nothing compares to breastmilk, but how time flies. When you're ready to move on..." They know their audience is…

As someone attending parenting and breastfeeding classes with my wife, reading parenting books and buying a bewildering array of post-natal gadgets, I really don't see this at all. The overwhelming message…

I'd have thought so.

How does peer review work? Do the reviewers get chosen by the journal, the author, their…

It's been ~7 years since I was a parent of a newborn, but I don't remember seeing that at all. I remember the trained, experienced people we trusted coming into our…

Or sheep?

Two legs bad! four legs good!

Yeah, and being deliberately dismissive of women as people, and comparing them to cows and sheep is something that really fires me up. As is Epic Mansplaining of the type you're doing here. Or…

This is a bloody stupid metaphor, sorry. Profit motive: the milk from sheep or cows is free. Feed substitutes (and plenty of orphan lambs are…

Apparently. Jesus.

Yes, I agree all the support and encouragement in the world is necessary. We certainly needed it and had it. And it needs to be there to ensure it maximises the opportunity for our young to get a "good start in life". I have yet to hear from anyone…

Also, the idea that childbirth causes severe ladybrain damage that prevents all rational thought and agency is soooo last millennium. Isn't it?

It's how the peer review function (ie: quality control) has traditionally been managed. There are other ways to do that which don't involve creating private gatekeepers who can charge accordingly.

It's anecdotal and won't apply everywhere, but when I was doing post-grad…

O/T:
There's a barber shop in Grey Lynn called Mere Male's Barber Shop.

For many years, I assumed that "Mere Male" was the name of the Samoan guy who owned the place.

Just after I last wrote we all started getting really down. Baby was spending most of the day screaming and never really going to sleep, and this went on for several weeks. I celebrated…

i.e., it is a condition of publishing in most corporate journals that the final version can't be posted on an open-access site, unless you're…

An author (me) of a few papers published in academically…

Why have a battle when you can have both? Well, with twins they sort of encourage it (Midwife & Obs at least). They worked well as a team too. I'm not going into details of the birth, because last I looked, not my body, but…

But that wasn't patronising, right?

All the info I have ever read over the last 26 years (eldest's age) suggests it is (or should be) a minority who cannot breast feed. So I think my…

Could we perhaps be ‘supportive and encouraging’ to mothers rather than ‘accusatory and patronising’? You catch more bees with…

"Parents" do think it's normal and natural to breast-feed. So you get new mothers expecting to just instinctively know how to…

Can someone explain for a lay person why papers can’t just be put on the university website under creative commons? Why do we need the journals at all – other than them acting as “cricket scorers” for…

"Difficulties…

I’m just saying that almost every academic I know would rather do it as they have always done it, rather than fight their department for one thousand dollars. Independent researchers…

Woah.…

I agree there's a structural problem there that hasn't been addressed. It will take a consistent policy response in the interests of all stakeholders especially the public who still pay for much of the original research – and someone has…

And that's the problem, merely loaded on the…