Breastfeeding: a comment I just made elsewhere

[ailbhe]

I've just finished having a baby in hospital and was able to see just how breastfeeding "support" can sabotage a breastfeeding relationship at its inception.

One midwife reduced a woman to tears at 1 am because the woman had accepted a bottle from another member of staff earlier in the day.

Another told a woman she couldn't leave hospital without seeing a pediatrician as her baby was showing signs of dehydration because breastfeeding wasn't working - but didn't offer the woman ANY help with feeding, or ask to observe a feed, or anything; the woman waited over 6 hours for a pediatrician to become free, and no-one gave her any help or advice in that time.

A Staff Nurse (not a qualified breastfeeding advisor) twice grabbed my breast to help "correct my latch" when my baby was *swallowing* milk, as well as having some dribble out the sides of her mouth, and I was in no discomfort.

I can see dozens of reasons *originating from people who think that they are offering breastfeeding support* for women to go to formula full or part time. And that's before you go looking for people who are neutral or anti breastfeeding.

I can't find it in me to blame women who've just had a baby and are tired, emotional, insecure, and unhelped.

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I know this doesn't include women who had genuine long-lasting problems feeding; really, I think that with brand new mothers being handed problems like this to cope with, we don't even need to look at helping women with genuine problems in order to increase the breastfeeding rates in this country and others like it. People with genuine problems rather than learning-curve issues are royally screwed in a system like this.

Comments

[cangetmad.livejournal.com]

Oh, god, yes. Even when you go outside the immediate perinatal context, there's so much cultural bullshit around breastfeeding that almost everybody starts from a low, low knowledge and confidence base. Pretty much anything will knock breastfeeding off course, and there's a lot of poor support, bad advice and overstretched, badly trained staff to do the knocking.

[pariyal.livejournal.com]

I was fortunate to have a best friend who had breastfed both of hers fairly long against nineteen-eighties indifference (if not outright hostility); also, when it became really rocky with the twins I had experience with N (a phenomenally easy feeder) to draw on. I wouldn't have managed with only the professionals for support, especially as nobody even mentioned the existence of lactation consultants. I concede that the first time I had an excellent midwife, and I didn't need a lactation consultant as N knew what to do on her own; the second time I'd have been glad to have one, but yes, I'd just given birth to twins and was being bullied, I didn't have any fight in me.

[nicolap.livejournal.com]

So true (and I'm so pleased to see your tandem feeding icon, it's making me feel utterly squooshily hormonal even though it's- eep, how can this be? more than two years since I finished breastfeeding smallest daughter)

[tassie-gal.livejournal.com]

Cant comment on the actual post - BUT I wanted to say I love your icon. You look so happy and relaxed and PLEASED with yourself, its really lovely to see.

[tiggsybabes.livejournal.com]

The breastfeeding "support" I had in hospital after having had Kate & being in shock after an emergency c-section, was grab my boob painfully, shove in baby's mouth, walk off & leave us til the next time. I started using a bottle of formula for night feeds after 2 weeks as I really had no idea what I was doing & didn't have all this wonderful lj support back then as I hadn't even heard of lj.

[rmc28]

I am planning to rely on my mother and mother-in-law rather than any 'official' support. Between them they have breastfed 8 babies, all of them for >6 months and most of them for >12 months. Also neither of them will touch me without my permission.

[nwhyte]

Anne had the same experience in Belfast, when our first was born. Luckily we had the other two in Belgium where they give you no advice at all.

[nitoda]

I *love* your icon! I think babies at the breast of a happy mother is one of the most beautiful sights in the universe ... and when the mother is as beautiful as you are in that picture, well ... 'nuff said, I think. ;-)