iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️

Ele Willoughby @minouette.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

For the #spacetober_challenge day 6 prompt: rover/robotic explorer: This is a mini hand-pulled linocut (7” x 5”) of Opportunity the Martian Rover. 🧪🔭⚒️🐡 The print is in a gradient of rusty orange and black on ivory Japanese washi paper. Launched July 8, 2003, Opportunity (Oppie to his fans)

My small 7” x 5” Opportunity the Martian Rover. The print is in a gradient of rusty orange and black on ivory Japanese washi paper.

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Reposted by Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️

Ele Willoughby @minouette.bsky.social · 07/10/2026

For Day 7 of 🧪🐡🔭#spacetober_challenge prompt Venus: This is a minimalist print inspired by the transit of Venus. Much like a solar eclipse, when our moon's orbit brings it between the Earth and sun, the transit of Venus occurs when the planet Venus passes directly between the sun and us (or any

This linocut represents the transit of Venus. A gold semicircle (curve up, flat side horizontal) on white paper represents the solar disk and the series of smaller excised circles represent the path of Venus tracing a slanted line which would form a chord of the semicircle.

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 07/10/2026

IT. IS. POSSIBLE!!! to talk about breastfeeding with accuracy AND compassion AND nuance. In fact, it’s the ONLY way to talk about it effectively. Breastfeeding affects everyone. #LactSci literacy benefits everyone! Which is why we made it 1. short and 2. open access! doi.org/10.1111/mcn....

doi.org

Breastfeeding Science Denialism: Unpacking a Hidden Harm

In the digital age, misinformation about infant feeding threatens decades of public health efforts to revive breastfeeding. Increasingly sophisticated marketing exploits cultural knowledge gaps, serv...

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 07/10/2026

Fix a broken system with systems thinking: 🩺 #MedEd: Pediatricians need more than 9hrs of lactation training! 🏥 Professional orgs: Back clinicians up with statements; incentivize board certification. 🏛 Policy: ENABLE breastfeeding via paid leave🇺🇸, childcare, breastfeeding in school curriculums!

Justin Timberlake meme from the social network. It says "Fed is cool. You know what's cooler? Treating infant feeding like a reproductive right instead of a lifestyle choice."

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 07/10/2026

Clinicians, lactation professionals, and public health professionals: ✨ You are not alone. ✨ There are other fields of health and science that have been long targeted by denialism, and they have been field-testing #SciComm tools for decades. There are tools for navigating these...milky waters!🥛

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 07/10/2026

What our paper DOES say: ✅ Infant feeding decisions are usually not a choice freely made ✅ Parents are getting screwed over by a broken information ecosystem ✅ #Pediatricians aren’t getting adequate training and support in navigating these discussions with their patients #MedSky #Pedsky 🛟

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 07/10/2026

Here’s what our paper does NOT 🙅🏻‍♀️🙅🏼‍♀️🙅🏻‍♀️ say: ❌ Formula is poison ❌ Breastmilk is a magic potion (though it is pretty darn cool) ❌ Breastfeeding challenges are not real ❌ Formula use = parental failure

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 07/10/2026

5. LEVERAGING AUTHORITY. MDs writing OpEds minimizing the science on breastfeeding, or IBCLC lactation consultants participating in infant formula marketing events. There are also influencers touting an industry-created credential “Infant Feeding Technician,” which confers no medical expertise.

Screenshot of an NPR article, "I'm An Obstetrician And I Failed At Breast-Feeding," by Maliha Sayla, dated August 11, 2015. The illustration, by Maria Fabrizio, shows a huge baby bottle tipped on its side against a blue background, with milk pouring from it. A small mother holding her baby sits in the spilled milk. Both are drawn in pale white, as if made of milk themselves.

Screenshot of a webpage from infant formula company Bobbie. The page, headed "Live Feeding Support," invites visitors to join Emily, NP-C, IBCLC, and Jamie, RN, IBCLC, "the co-founders of NAPS," for live weekly lactation support covering breastfeeding challenges, pumping tips, flange sizing and combo feeding, with a "Book Your Session" button. Beside the text are circular photos of the two smiling women, surrounded by speech bubbles with parent questions such as "How can I increase (or maintain) my milk supply?" and "How do I know if my baby is getting enough?", plus a line drawing of a pair of boobs with feet.

Promotional graphic for a live class called "Formula on Purpose," on Tuesday, September 1, at 1 PM EST, led by Mallory Whitmore, @theformulamom. Her listed credentials are "Educational Lead at Bobbie" and "Certified Infant Feeding Technician." The photo shows her smiling in an orange blazer, scooping powdered formula from a can into a baby bottle.

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 07/10/2026

4. APPEALS TO INDIVIDUALISM. Formula = liberation, feminism, etc. 🦅 Breastfeeding is framed as a crunchy/"individual choice," rather than a #PublicHealth issue and a social responsibility. Because as long as you’re pointing the finger at other moms, you’re NOT pointing it at those in power... 🤨

A news headline in the new york times saying "secret to marriage equality is formula." The header illustration features a dad feeding a bottle to a baby while the mom sleeps.

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 07/10/2026

3. MISREPRESENTING CLINICAL STANDARDS. Lactation experts are recast as “activists” rather than experts, and BFHI is undermined with extraordinary claims about lactation consultants "starving babies" (against clinical guidelines). In the digital & AI age, this is one of the more concerning trends.

Several news headlines such as "Mom Says Pressure to Breastfeed Led to Accidentally Starving Her Infant Son: 'We Were So Brainwashed'," "Breastfeeding Mom Who Lost Son to Accidental Starvation Defends Bottle Feeding," and "Breastfeeding mom didn't know she was starving her baby to death"

Flyer from the Fed Is Best Foundation warning of "a concerning rise in hospitalizations of exclusively breastfed newborns" due to insufficient breast milk, including jaundice, low blood sugar and dehydration "which can threaten a newborn's brain." It spells out HUNGRY as an acronym for warning signs:
H: hypoglycemia, with jitteriness, low body temperature, high-pitched crying, turning blue and seizures.
U: unsatisfied nursing, meaning feeds lasting longer than 30 minutes or more often than every 2 hours, or crying despite continuous breastfeeding.
N: not waking to feed every 3 hours, sleepiness or lethargy.
G: weight loss over 4% in the first 24 hours or 7% at any time.
R: reduced wet and dirty diapers, or red "brick dust" in diapers.
Y: yellowing skin or eyes (jaundice).
The flyer tells parents who see these signs to seek medical help immediately and supplement their baby: "Don't wait until it's too late."

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 07/10/2026

2. MISAPPROPRIATION OF RESEARCH. 🍒-picking studies to represent the science as “unsettled." To be clear: The 🤱🏽vs🍼 “debate” exists only in the media. Several medical orgs have actually recently *doubled down* on their breastfeeding recs. Breastfeeding = consensus: www.thelancet.com/journals/lan...

Screenshot of a New York Times Sunday Review opinion piece, "Overselling Breast-Feeding," by Courtney Jung, dated October 16, 2015, with 510 comments. The illustration shows a large black-and-white drawing of a woman with downcast eyes, red lips pressed flat, and her hand on her cheek, looking weary. Filling a rounded shape at her chest is a crowd of small, brightly colored figures shouting through megaphones and waving signs: one with a heart, one reading "Formula" crossed out with a red prohibition symbol, and a man holding a book titled "The Breast."

Screenshot of a Guardian article, "Is breast really best? I looked at all the data to find out," by Emily Oster, dated June 20, 2019, with 307 comments. The photo shows a smiling woman with curly dark hair, wearing a gray nursing bra, breastfeeding a young baby in a pastel butterfly-print outfit. The baby rests a hand on her chest. The caption reads "Is breastfeeding always the best thing?"

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 07/10/2026

1. MINIMIZATION. Looks like: - “All that matters is a healthy baby" - "Breastfeeding is oversold/Fed is best" - Comparing formula to MILK, not breastfeeding, lowering the evidence bar formula needs to clear. - Leveraging the invisibility of population-level effects of lactation in daily life.

A meme showing two kids going down separate slides that converge at the bottom. One kid is labeled "breastfed" and the other is labeled "formula-fed." At the bottom where the slides converge, it reads "Eating McDonald's french fries off the floor of the car."

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 07/10/2026

Breastfeeding has 🍼competition🍼, and where there's commercial interest in health, denialism swoops in to fill info vacuums. So we looked to other sciences long-targeted by denialism: climate, tobacco harms, & vaccines. Turns out, #BreastfeedingDenialism uses the same playbook, with 5 strategies:

Table titled "Breastfeeding Science Denialism: Five Strategies," showing tactics used to manufacture doubt in other sciences side by side with similar tactics targeting infant feeding. One example pair for each strategy:
Minimization: the sugar industry blaming lack of exercise; "Fed is best," or "All that matters is a healthy baby.
Misappropriation of science: tobacco keeping the science contested; cherry-picking studies
Misrepresenting clinical standards: "too many too soon" vaccine claims; claims that clinicians "starve babies" by withholding formula.
Appeals to cultural values: "nanny state" rhetoric; framing breastfeeding as oppressive and formula as liberating.
Leveraging of authority: "More doctors smoke Camels"; Clinicians participating in industry-sponsored events.
Adapted from McGann, Raimondi & Azad (2026), Maternal & Child Nutrition, with a QR code linking to the paper.

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 07/10/2026

A while ago I noticed a shift in the “breast vs formula” discourse. “Data-driven” journalists and influencers were now directly challenging scientific consensus on breastfeeding. A few years later, I found myself wondering, where has #FedIsBest gotten us? Does anyone actually feel any better?? 🤔

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 07/10/2026

“Breastfeeding Science Denialism: Unpacking a Hidden Harm" out in Maternal & Child Nutrition w/ my colleagues Christina Raimondi & Meghan Azad, PhD is the first to apply a #ScienceDenialism framework to this. 🌶️ title, I know. But this is a #SciComm & #PublicHealth issue, not a "lifestyle choice."

The silhouette of a microscope on a yellow background. On the stage is a tiny little version of the universal symbol for breastfeeding. Next to it reads "breastfeeding science denialism.

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 07/10/2026

“'Data-driven' economist says #breastfeeding doesn't matter.” "Lactation consultants starve babies" This is what #BreastfeedingDenialism looks like. Our new paper argues that addressing #misinformation and #CompassionateCare are NOT conflicting goals. doi.org/10.1111/mcn.... 🧪 🛟 #MedSky #PedSky

Screenshot.
Breastfeeding Science Denialism: Unpacking a Hidden Harm
Bridget McGann Christina Raimondi Meghan B. Azad
In the digital age, misinformation about infant feeding threatens decades of public health efforts to revive breastfeeding.Increasingly sophisticated marketing exploits cultural knowledge gaps, serving commercial interests and exacerbating food insecurity from climate change and migration. Public health literature acknowledges that suboptimal breastfeeding rates are due to systemic failures, not personal ones. However, our social responsibility to parents includes promoting public literacy in infant feeding and breastfeeding and lactation science. Recognizing breastfeeding misinformation as science denialism unlocks field‐tested communication tools from domains long‐targeted by denialism, such as climate change and vaccines. We describe five breastfeeding denialism strategies that echo tactics historically used to manufacture doubt about scientific consensus (cut off)

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 07/10/2026

Thank you! And it’s neither! It means released, like an album. Only way less impressive lol.

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 07/10/2026

Not really a science fact, it’s just that this is one of the many shots in the film where Ryan Gosling looks exactly like my little brother and I would want to punch him if he weren’t such a sweet little Canadian cinnamon roll who doesn’t understand that the condensation is on the INSIDE of the suit

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 07/10/2026

The suit Grace wears is for temperature regulation inside the EVA suit. But the real purpose was to cover up Ryan Gosling’s guns. No microbiologist has time to get that swole. #Facts

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 07/10/2026

Canada’s greatest contribution to the world: Ryan Gosling Ryan Gosling’s greatest contribution to the world: increasing the representation of scientists on Giphy In honor of my first first-author paper drop, I’m posting science gifs and science facts from Project Hail Mary til I run out of them 🧪

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Reposted by Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️

François Diaz-Maurin @francoisdm.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

AI doesn’t need rogue "superintelligence" or evil intent to start a nuclear war. In @thebulletin.org, Paul Slovic & Herbert Lin show how today’s AI—combined with ordinary human fallibility—could trigger catastrophe. 🧵

A large blue robotic hand points towards a person seated at a desk in a grand, ornate room with yellow lighting. (Illustration by François Diaz-Maurin; source images from The White House and canva.com)

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Reposted by Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️

Marisa Kabas @marisakabas.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

with each passing day it feels more surreal to be an independent journalist. like playing with a toy train while vanderbilt owns the railways.

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 04/10/2026

It’s already like this. You go to a wealthy person‘s house and their kids toys are all made of wood not plastic. Their furniture is wood. They put their babies in hand knitted bloomers. They have backyards with forests behind them because trees are privilege now. Having real things is privilege.

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 04/10/2026

I actually think this will be literally true. I think the class divide is also going to become an educational one and the same way literacy was in the industrial age. I think we are going to have a working class of morons and an owning class where it’s going to be trendy to memorize poetry and draw.

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Reposted by Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️

Coach Finstock @coachfinstock.bsky.social · 03/10/2026

This piece of the puzzle isn't talked about nearly enough. I am willing to bet it's not the kids who do their own homework who will be left behind in the future. The stans are screaming this because they need it to be true or they are proper fucked.

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 04/10/2026

It’s that time of timeline, again. Throwback to 2020.

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 28/09/2026

This is awesome! What is the advantage of starting with video instead of a photograph?

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Reposted by Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️

Dan Roach 🛩️ FRAS 🔭 @dannydenfisch.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Um, ok, this is possibly my best ever photo of the waning gibbous phase #Moon taken tonight in Rochdale, UK 96% illuminated. 30 seconds of video, stacked and then post processed on Lightroom. #astronomy #astrophotography 🧪 🔭

Close up of the moon on the terminator edge with crater details

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Reposted by Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️

Dan Jagger @auditorynerves.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

High screen time can hurt children’s learning & language skills, study suggests. Effect of elevated screen exposure could be as significant as parental behaviour & premature birth. Higher screen time also linked to poorer language development. 🧪💻📱 www.theguardian.com/society/2026...

theguardian.com

High screen time can hurt children’s learning and language skills, study suggests

Effect of elevated screen exposure could be as significant as parental behaviour and premature birth, report says

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 24/09/2026

If you don’t know, Daniel Pemberton is responsible for the amazing scores for Steve Jobs and Project Hail Mary. I’ve already been hearing buzz about this film for months, now.

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 24/09/2026

(I have not been able to bring myself to see the Drama yet due to the subject matter, but perhaps someday!)

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 24/09/2026

Omg I’ve been hearing so much buzz about this film, but I didn’t know you were scoring it! That is so awesome Daniel! You show who you are by the projects you choose, and this + PHM tells me you know an important story when you see one.

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 24/09/2026

Same. Real presidents willingly cede power.

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 24/09/2026

He knew. And he made damn sure every member of the press was present to record it.

A block of white text against a black background. Below that, an image of Barack Obama behind the podium in the White House briefing room acting like a normal, sane person who reads books.

The text reads:

Barack Obama's last press briefing as President:
"I have enjoyed working with all of you.
That does not, of course, mean that I've enjoyed every story that you have filed, but that's the point of this relationship. You're not supposed to be sycophants. You're supposed to be skeptics. You're supposed to ask me tough questions. You're not supposed to be complimentary, but you're supposed to cast a critical eye on folks who hold enormous power."

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 24/09/2026

Citations, please. Sincerely, A kid who grew up in the same town as Mayor Pete, but whose parents weren’t college professors and couldn’t afford to send her to the local Montessori.

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Reposted by Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️

paulpro @mariopro.bsky.social · 19/09/2026

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 20/09/2026

In celebration of everybody’s second favorite culturally appropriated Celtic holiday, I made a creepy pop playlist. It is not kids music, nor does it contain any monster-mashing or Michael Jackson. It’s actual good music, but with a slightly creepy vibe. music.apple.com/us/playlist/...

music.apple.com

Samhain Appropriation 2026 by B. on Apple Music

Playlist · 25 Songs

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 16/09/2026

AI swallowing up SciComm (and science, deskilling, etc) is something I think about a LOT. I’m a big advocate for scientists doing SciComm, but it’s a real time suck, and now we have to compete with AI generated content. Still though, I’m constantly inspired by the amazing work being done!

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 16/09/2026

I am really bad at design (despite multiple classes in it), but the strategy I used here is one I recommend to anyone who struggles the way I do: Find a shape or motif and then design around it. Imposing an artificial boundary forces problem solving. I think it’s called creative constraint?

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 16/09/2026

Omg this is so kind thank you! This made my day! I try to do something a little different every year, but I’m really bad at design and was really struggling this year. I really wanted to avoid an overtly feminine palette, so I took inspiration from the branding for my 2nd fav movie of all time!

The project Hail Mary title with a prism of colors behind it on a black background.

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 08/09/2026

Yeah it's reminding me of the kind of stuff I've seen about the royal family. Always so sensationalist and not even pretending to be journalism. But perhaps that is a good thing. In the U.S., we don't have as many tabloids, but we do have Fox News and bro podcasts

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 08/09/2026

I continue to be astonished at how bad Irish tabloids are. And how MANY there are!

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 04/09/2026

Omg! 😭 I didn’t know today was the anniversary! I’m not exaggerating when I say this was one of the saddest days of my life. I’m still sad about it when I think about it. Like I genuinely grieve him, the way I grieve Carl Sagan and Princess Diana

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 04/09/2026

Anyway, thanks for sharing what you know and if you see any articles with actual info in them please send em my way!

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 04/09/2026

I know. Like I’m so amazed at all Ireland has invested in reviving the language, but breastfeeding who cares?? It is frustrating to watch because there’s nothing I can do and it’s hard to learn anything because there is so little info out there.

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Bríd Nic Annaidh ☘️ @bridgetmcgann.medsky.social · 04/09/2026

I’m reporting them for misinfo ;) They are repeating a lot of of the old classics: that “men” can’t breastfeed, trans milk is poison. Total ignorance in BASIC lactation physiology. Part of the problem is that we do not teach this biology in schools. Not even med schools.

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