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Our experts Blogs
Siobhan Freegard
Siobhan Freegard is a mum of three and co-founder of parenting site Netmums. Following a highly successful career in marketing, she set up Netmums in 2000 as a result of her own experiences of being a new mum. The website initially drew together the contributions of a small group of mums and now forms an online community of hundreds of thousands of mums from all over the UK.
Time out...
What's your number one tip for beating the winter blues?
Losing myself in a really good book. Apparently just six minutes reading reduces stress by up to 68% Going to bed early with my book and one of the children to cuddle and keep my feet warm is my favourite tip for lifting my mood on cold winter evenings!
Have you stuck to your new year's resolutions or failed miserably?
I’ve broken all of them, but sure they’re made to be broken!
What are you looking forward to about spring?
Less clothes to wash as the kids shed some layers. God that's such a mum-thing to say!Is breast best after all?
Siobhan from Netmums has picked up on a new study on breastfeeding
I recently read an article in The Telegraph about a controversial study that seemed to say that feeding your baby by bottle or breast made little difference to their health.
When I saw the story online later in the day, I was really shocked to see the way the other papers had sensationalised the study and the spin they'd put on it. Most of them had misleading headlines like 'Breast milk has few benefits' and 'Breast is not best'. For many new mums struggling to breastfeed and trying to decide what's best for them and their baby, it must have been quite worrying and off-putting.
In fact, the team at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology who carried out the study did not find that 'breast milk has few benefits' but that other factors, such as testosterone levels, had a greater affect on the health of babies than whether they were fed by their mums - or by a bottle.
For all of us, the media has a huge impact on how we interpret new research and can affect the decisions we make. Just as with the MMR and cervical cancer jabs, newspapers have a responsibility to report findings without blowing up sensitive health issues just to sell more papers.
Of course, breastfeeding is great if you can do it and we've all heard how it's a great way to kickstart your child's immune system while helping them grow. I was lucky and I managed to successfully breastfeed my babies, but it's not always easy. I have heard from many Netmums who are exhausted, reduced to tears and wracked with guilt because they felt they couldn’t give their baby the ‘best' start.
It's hard not to worry about the media hype. But remember, for advice you can always talk to your health visitor, midwife and other mums on Netmums when you're trying to make decisions that affect you and your little ones. And also remember that today's newspaper is tomorrow's fish and chips wrapper!
Siobhan x
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