Oh, man, if these Sunday Star-Times reports are any indication, the health care system in New Zealand has been seized by power-mad lactivists loyal to the WHO, who have turned the little island nation into the breastfeeding version of A Handmaid's Tale.
In neo-natal units across the country, the formula's been locked up. Nurses make the new [defective] parents who wish to or need to formula feed sign waivers confessing their crimes. And they have to bring their own teats and bottles. Propaganda posters in the hospitals hurt feelings. Sometimes, they don't even get their parking validated.
Maybe New Zealand is just getting uppity about how the WHO's global Breast Is Best campaign is being implemented. Or maybe it's a lot of attention paid to localized overzealousness and insensitivity.
Whatever it is, I am loathe to sympathize with Big Formula, even as my heart goes out to new parents who are unfairly made to feel like crap for feeding their kid formula.
And yet I can't help but admire the terrible catchiness of the term "Breastapo," which was so unpopular, the paper ran with it for two weeks in a row. This comment by Barbara on yesterday's follow-up story wins the DT gold star:
Enough already with the Breastapo label. It's inaccurate, inflammatory, unbecoming and offensive. Or would you like to be referred to as the Presstapo in return?
2 Sept: 'Breastapo' tactics upset bottle feeders [stuff.co.nz]
9 Sept: 'Breastapo' attacks formula-feeding mums [stuff.co.nz]
'Breastapo' claims create climbdown [stuff.co.nz, all via dt lactivist correspondent jj daddy-o who, for some reason, suddenly envisions Uma in black leather]
