I don't know if I agree with the term "viable." Women have been breastfeeding since, well, the beginning of the species. Our cultural attitudes towards breastfeeding have changed -- particularly when it comes to feeding in public, or choosing to pump at work. But I don't feel that the actual act of breastfeeding (or, for that matter, the choice to do so) is any more or less "viable" in England than in any other country.

Were we to launch a similar ad campaign in the US, I think the tagline would be something along the lines of "What's the big deal?" Perhaps the need for an ad campaign in England shows a drop in breastfeeding numbers, rather than a surge in its popularity. Do we have the same problem on this side of the Atlantic?

Why, yes, yes we do have the same problem with a drop in breastfeeding numbers in the US.  This group and these ads are specifically designed to appeal to young moms where there has been a significant drop in an interest to breastfeed. It's also why some of the formula companies have finally agreed to comply with WHO guidelines and stop advertising their products in several of the parenting magazines.  Very young moms are the very ones we need to encourage to breastfeed most to encourage bonding time with their infants, and to feed the babies a perfect food rather than a poor substitute so that they have healthier and happier babies.  It really is a big deal, so that for posting this, Rachael!

Women in industrialized nations stopped breastfeeding when the pill became popular and we started working outside the home.  You can't do it all.  Breastfeeding while working full time just cant be done.  Once again we are being asked to do the impossible and if you cant do it all then you are a failure at motherhood.  Personally I think the whole breat is best campaign is designed by men to get us back in the kitchen and off the fast track.  Same guys who want us to stop elective abortions and ban the pill.  

I understand the use of the word "viable."  It is really hard, to continue breastfeeding after going back to work full time.  Especially if you have a long commute, as I do.  I was happy to breastfeed my son, but it was a very stressful time.  I had to go back when he was 2 months old, I work at a law firm and I was constantly feeling guilty either for not fulfilling my job responsibilities or my motherly responsibilties.  I have no choice but to work full time, we depend on my salary.  So yes, if I had more time off, or maternity leave at full pay, breastfeeding would have been more viable.

Thanks to some great breast pumps (medela is the one I currently rely upon), women *can* work outside the home and exclusively breastfeed. My son and I are an example of this.

It really has been important that I've gotten the right info and support, though, to get me through those stressful times.  I'm happy that we've persevered, though.

A little history lesson for Cassie. The pill wasn't approved until 1960. Breastfeeding rates started dropping well before that. My grandmother refused to breastfeed my mother (born in 1946) because, thanks to marketing campaigns, it wasn't what "modern women" did.

By 1956, breastfeeding rates were down around 20% in the US. That was the same year La Leche League was started- by a group of mothers, not by men. That group is thought to be instrumental in changing the then increasingly negative sentiment towards breastfeeding.

Breastfeeding rates did not start to increase until 1972. Roe v Wade was in 1973.

As a rabidly liberal breastfeeding mom who also happens to be a resident surgeon (ie, 80+ hour work weeks), I am offended that the idea that "breast is best" is designed by men to keep us down. Doing what we can to make sure our children are healthy is one of the most important things parents can do for their children. The positive health impact of breastfeeding is indisputable.

It IS possible for most women to BF/pump and work full time, as long as they have adequate support. It's not easy, but then neither is being a SAHM. PARENTING ISN'T EASY. If you want easy, don't have kids!

I know that not everyone has adequate support. Personally, I would never have kids if I didn't have support (that's the beauty of reproductive choice in all forms- as long as we still have it). Thanks to a wonderful family (and LLL), I was able to extended breastfeed 2 healthy kids.

Our culture needs to change, not by encouraging less healthy alternatives for our families, but by encouraging healthier choices, including paid family leave, on-site daycare, better education, and readily available comprehensive reproductive health care. EVERYONE would benefit from that.

"I know that not everyone has adequate support. Personally, I would never have kids if I didn't have support (that's the beauty of reproductive choice in all forms- as long as we still have it)."

Okay, so all those people without adequate support, who probably didn't know they didn't have adequate support until they already had a newborn sitting in their lap, they shouldn't have had kids in the first place?  Putting in the word "personally" doesn't make that come across as any less judgemental.

What kills me about the "rabidly liberal breastfeeding mom" group is that so many of them shout tolerance and acceptance for whatever it is they want to do, but have no tolerance or acceptance of those who take another path, for whatever reason.

I am a breastfeeding mom. My daughter is 8 months - I was given 6 weeks of unpaid maternity leave and had to go back to work. Despite many struggles with breastfeeding, we persevered and have managed to continue. I use a medela pump at work and just take one day at a time. It is not easy. It is the hardest thing I've ever done in my life.

When the going gets tough, I typically give up and move on. I didn't want to do that with breastfeeding. The support of my husband and my boss have been extremely important, though. I think everyone has to make their own choice on this one, but really the most important thing is that your kid gets to eat. I love nursing and am committed to doing this, but if anyone asks me, I am sure to tell them about all of the ups and downs. I wish someone had told me what to expect. On good days, I could see myself doing this for another year or so. On bad days, I wonder if I can do this with another baby if I'm still working full time. I'm sure the future will bring even more challenges, with regards to parenting, and this will be the least of our worries.

When people talk about "support", it sounds like they mean a husband who helps out around the house, a shoulder to cry on, or maybe a LLL consultant who comes to see your baby latch on.  

In fact, "support" really means a consistent work schedule that allows for pumping and doesn't require travel, coworkers who don't think you're slacking off for leaving every few hours, a caregiver who is willing to deal with all your breastmilk needs like the timing issues of milk going bad, a baby that eats on a regular schedule, breasts that generate milk for a pump quickly, extra time at home to breastfeed and pump, and all the other niggling crap (can I drink a glass of wine?) that has to be dealt with.  

We all need support, but let's call that by its real names: better and longer maternity leave, good and inexpensive daycare, flexible work environments.  Let's not let our gov't off the hook!

Cassie said "Women in industrialized nations stopped breastfeeding when the pill became popular and we started working outside the home."

It seems like breastfeeding -- like bottlefeeding, which has also been popular for centuries, if not millennia -- has been subject to the public whim. My research tells me that the bottle was once touted as the "best, most hygenic" method of feeding, whereas now we're told that "the breast is best." Of course, this is a fairly dualistic view ... as several mothers here have pointed out, it's possible to feed breastmilk with a bottle.

So, to return to my point, I wondered if this ad campaign showed an increase or decrease in breastfeeding popularity. I feel that, in America (at least in my community), breastfeeding is strongly supported. Women I know feel guilty if they DON'T breastfeed -- this could be the downside of La Leche League, they are a bit fanatical about the "no bottle" rule. I wondered if the same is true overseas? Is guilt the ruling principle, or convenience?

As we know, formula won't turn your baby into a mutant, and using a bottle won't make you less of a woman or a mother.

And, in terms of "viability" I think the other comments posted here prove that where there's a will, there's a way -- regardless of work-time or other obstacles.

Just to be clear, my work schedule does involve evenings and weekends, and I don't really get huge amounts of support from co-workers. I catch plenty of hell, especially from a co-worker who has a baby and has opted for formula. My boss is supportive, in that she allows me to take breaks throughout the day (which I believe isn't guaranteed by law in my state), and provides me with a space to pump. She is still passive-aggressive, though, and will occasionally make a little snide comment. Whatever. I get all my work done and don't drop the ball, so the breaks seem to be ok.

We pay $300/week for daycare. The caregivers feed the baby, but frequently complain that there isn't enough milk for her and that I need to bring more. I send what I pump. The baby is in the appropriate percentiles for growth. But it's not like I send frozen milk to daycare and they prepare the bottles. I prepare everything myself. The only "handling" of milk that takes place is when they give the baby the bottle.

My baby only started eating on a regular schedule around 6 months. Before that, she was all over the place and I was constantly stressed about being able to pump enough for her. While some people may pump 6oz+ per session, I typically get about 3-4 oz if I'm lucky, and that's total, after pumping from both breasts. And no, I don't double pump because my breasts are gigantic and I can't get into one of those double pumping contraptions or even hold two at a time. I will say that my hospital had a free breastfeeding support group and a warmline where you could get help from lactation nurses. The comraderie of the women was very helpful, but the lactation nurses basically just critcized my latch and told me to put lansinoh on my nipples when they were raw for the first two weeks. When I was ready to come back to work, I got little to no helpful advice from them. No one could give me good advice about scheduling or pumping. I found the best advice online. My husband has defended me and our choices when family memebers and friends have expressed thoughts that I am "crazy" for breastfeeding when formula is just as good. More than anything, his support consisted of someone else there with me to remind me that the baby wasn't going to starve if I didn't get up at 3 am to pump extra milk for her. He set up my pump for me and read all the instructions when I was too sleep deprived to do it. He examined the baby's latch himself and read up on different nursing positions.

So when I say "support" this is what I mean. I agree that our government needs to step up, but I don't want to give anyone the impression that this is easy for me or that I am some priveleged little wife with all sorts of help. I work for a non-profit and am underpaid. We live hand to mouth. We make it work. And I'm sorry if this comment comes off as bitchy, but my baby was up at 2am coughing and hacking and I get up at 4:30am so that I can get to work by 6:30 (my commute is an hour long) and fit in my first pumping session of the day.