Breastfeeding Workshop

[mum2fourkelly5]

Hi I'm a trained breastfeeding specialist. I would like to set up affordable breastfeeding workshops educating mothers to be in all aspects of breastfeeding. The only thing is I don't want to invest money in breastfeeding workshops to later find out there is no call for it. Would you pay a breastfeeding specialist £15 to educate you in breastfeeding?

[JiltedJohnsJulie]

I bf my 2 and didn't have any bfing "training", well apart from seeing family and friends bfing whilst I was growing up. I was quite ill though whilst pg with DC1 so didn't have any antenatal classes at all with the first. By the time the 2nd came along I'd already had nearly 3 years bfing experience, so figured I didn't need any training, although a little assistance with the Bfing Helplines came in helpful a couple of times.

So what I'm probably saying is no, in my case I wouldn't have paid.

[lyndie]

Our midwives did a 2 hour workshop as part of ante natal classes which was free, so maybe it depends on the provision in your area whether people would want to pay. Maybe offer a free class as a taster?

[Loislane78]

Depends, there are a lot of BF counsellors and support groups where I live so prob not. Would I have paid that when preg, probably so I think it really depends on your demographic and course content.

Someone at my NCT group just paid for a sling consultant

[tiktok]

I think you need to research your local market, mum2four....if there are (free) bf workshops offered by your maternity unit, or (paid ones) by NCT or other organisations, you might find there are no clients left to come to you. Bf support groups and Baby Cafes might welcome pregnant mothers, and they would prob be free. You also need to know what the bf rates are in your area. If they are very low, there may be little interest.

The other thing you need to explore is insurance, and you'd need to cost this into your fee.

If you are a member of an organisation, or a professional body (if you are a midwife, for example), you may find the insurance is already covered in your membership.

Who will supervise you? I don't mean sit in and watch over you, but who is giving you back up, and support, and ensuring you are up to date with your info? This might be something mothers would want to know before signing up. Who did your training? Do they have a membership option?

Not wanting to put you off - I hope you get something set up :)

[mum2fourkelly5]

Thanks for your opinions ladies. tiktok of course you haven't put me off. I asked for opinions and you gave your opinion and I appreciate that :-) I appreciate all opinions negative or positive :-)

[mum2fourkelly5]

My Nexus crashed for a while! tiktok I used to be an N.H.S bank care support worker and nursery nurse working on the antenatal, delivery and postnatal wards And paediatric wards. I then went on to train as a doula through Middlesex University. I have recently trained as a maternity nurse with N.E.S.T. Our breastfeeding training was based on one of Americas leading breastfeeding consultants Jack Newman. I'm going to be training with Jack in the new year through e-learning. Covering breastfeeding multiples, premature babies and babies with special needs. Cleft lips, tongue tie ex. Because I want specialised training in these areas. Trained N.E.S.T maternity nurses are also sleep specialists, nutritionists, baby hygienists and postnatal depression counsellors. Oh and not forgetting lol as I nearly did! I'm a mum to four and exclusively breastfed for six month's. My training will be up dated through short courses and workshops.I also work in partner ship with midwives and health visitors so I'm sure lol they will soon correct me if it's needed lol.

[elvislives2012]

I had BFing lessons as part if my NCT course and free lessons from the MWs. Post natally I have free access to BFing counsellors and support groups so I probably wouldn't pay £15. HTH :)

[tiktok]

I wish you all the best, OP, but I'd be concerned, as a breastfeeding counsellor myself, that you are placing a lot of faith and trust in the NEST course as a basis. It's a good course, but it is a very short, level 3 training, covering non-medical care of the mother and baby which can only include a small amount of breastfeeding. Even with the doula training and nursery nurse training and your own experience, I would wonder if it's all enough to run a workshop, with no provision for anyone coming in and assessing you on the part of an umbrella organisation. Morever, there's no teaching/facilitating in your background, and I think you might find it hard to present yourself as a credible person....and without some training in teaching and facilitating, and some feedback from someone asssessing you, you could get yourself into a pickle :(

Think about doing an adult ed certificate, maybe? Or take a look at the NCT's PBB courses, which train you to level 4 and which include breastfeeding facilitating for groups.www.nct.org.uk/nct-college

[Bert2e]

I echo Tiktok's comments - there are 4 organisations that train recognised bfc in the UK: ABM, BfN, LLLI and NCT and I think you'd be better to train with one of these organisations before setting up on your own.

[StuckInTheFensAwayFromHome]

Honest answer - no I wouldn't pay. There are things out there that are provided for free so they would be my first port of call.
If for any reason I felt the need to go 'private' on any aspect of healthcare - whether its breastfeeding or something else because I had been let down by the usual routes I would probably look for a national organisation rather than an independent one-man band.

[mum2fourkelly5]

Is the N.C.T training intensive training? Do you cover breast anatomy, feeding babies with special needs, premature babies, including multiples exceeding twins and conjoined twins? Breastfeeding mothers with disabilities and breastfeeding with lactation aids? At the moment I'm swaying towards furthering my training with Jack Newman because of his professional back ground. I have 17 years experience with all of the above apart from experience with conjoined twins and using breastfeeding lines as its an American thing. tiktok lol your great free advertising for the N.C.T. I hope you charge them lol x

[mum2fourkelly5]

One man band! I just visualized my self with drums strapped to my self and bells strapped to my wrists and ankles lolx

[mum2fourkelly5]

Ber2e, Are all the people in these organisations qualified healthcare professionals? Doctors, consultant's with specialised training? Qualified neonatal doctors consultants or paediatricians? Jack Newman is which is why I'm swaying towards him hun. My breastfeeding training with N.E.S.T was based on his professionalism and with 17 years experience to go by I'm impressed. But as I said I want your true opinions ladies positive or negative and appreciate your opinions :-)

[tiktok]

No, the training does not cover conjoined twins or other rare conditions but of course it includes breast anatomy and some special needs - but to be honest, a vast amount of technical knowledge is not as important as the skills needed to make a group work well, and a deep understanding of what most women need to know in order to bf with confidence.

If you read the link I posted it will tell you more, including details of Level 5 and Level 6 courses which would allow you to become a breastfeeding counsellor who is trained to work with groups as well as individuals.

It worries me you are claiming you will be 'training with Jack Newman' - you are planning to follow some e-learning modules which he has devised. They will be good, because he is a respected name, but they are not (AFAIK) interactive and he will not be your personal tutor.

I'm not really advertising the NCT - there are other routes to being a credible breastfeeding supporter who can work with groups, and NCT is the one I know about, that's all. I do care about the quality of antenatal breastfeeding education and support on offer to groups of women, and I do think anyone offering this, especially for money, needs to be trained and supervised. Just knowing a ton about breastfeeding isn't enough.

I have sat through (free) workshops and classes myself, where the person running it was perfectly nice, plus informed and knowledgable, but the educational and support experience for the parents was boring and unhelpful.

[tiktok]

OP, just read your post X posted with mine.

If you don't already know at least a little about NCT, ABM, LLL and BfN, and you need to ask if the people running the organisations are 'qualified neonatal doctors consultants or paediatricians' then you are just not in a position to offer antenatal bf education in the UK.

Of course the people running the training in these organisations are not 'qualified neonatal doctors consultants or paediatricians' and nor do they need to be! Jack Newman is very, very unusual in being a paediatrician who specialises in breastfeeding.

[MoaningMingeWhimpersAgain]

Totally agree with tiktok (as always )

I would only consider a qualified (by one of the 4 main associations in the UK) BFC or an IBCLC to be an actual breastfeeding 'specialist'. I think Jack Newman is fantastic, I wish we could clone him.

But the course you are doing, if it is indepth for breastfeeding, it doesn't really matter if others are doctors and paeds does it? Because you will still be an HCA with additional training, and not a paed with extensive BF knowledge either. I suspect that becoming a BFC would be, initially at least, a much more portable qualification for you but will require extensive study of both breastfeeding issues and counselling skills.

[EauRouge]

I'm with TikTok as well. The training does sound very in-depth but quite medically focussed- will there be any basic counselling training as well? So many breastfeeding problems can be caused by lack of confidence and support so having the ability to listen to and counsel mothers as well as trouble-shoot is very important.

How will you stay up-to-date when the training is finished? All BFC with the voluntary organisations have their training kept up-to-date with new research, new NHS policies etc. Will there be anything like that for you or will you be on your own?

I think there will always be people that will pay for a service that they could otherwise get for free (like a status symbol almost) but personally I wouldn't. I think the free services such as LLL groups and Baby Cafes are becoming easier to access for a lot of mothers so your market is probably shrinking rather than growing.

[mum2fourkelly5]

Oh wow! I am really shocked! Why am I being attacked? Oh the poor breastfeeding women reading this! I have 17 years breastfeeding experience and 17 years experience working newborns and their families. We should be working together and learning from each other not attacking each other, its not professional and distressing to the poor mums turning to this site for support!Please don't turn this thread into a debate! As I said I appreciate everyone's comments negative or positive but I didn't mean that as an excuse to attack! I have a lot of experience with supporting mums with breastfeeding who have babies with special needs and have worked with healthcare professionals who are highly qualified and experienced, I worked for the N.H.S and have paper qualifications so am far from the clueless person. I really am shocked!

[nellyjelly]

I don't think anyone is attacking you tbh.

[midori1999]

'the poor breastfeeding women reading this'....

I'm one of those 'poor' breastfeeding women and I'm a little gobsmacked by this whole idea, but I'm not sure where your last comment comes from really. No one was attacking you!

Where I live antenatal breastfeeding classes are provided free by the NHS. I speak at them sometimes. Also for free. There are also breastfeeding cafes, other breastfeeding groups such as LLL (very informative) which are all free, so I'm not sure why most women would pay for this sort of service, particularly when the NCT is so long and well established?

If you really want to help women breastfeed and have medical qualifications, why not go down the IBCLC route?

[SirBoobAlot]

I'm a breastfeeding peer supporter. Considering the hassle I have to go to to keep the funding for my group going so that mums can attend for free, my back has instantly gone up at the suggestion that people should pay for breastfeeding support.

If you sincerely want to help breastfeeding mums, then contact one of the local children's centers, or get involved with the LLL / ABM / BFN / NCT.

[MoaningMingeWhimpersAgain]

Attacked? Really? I hope whatever role you end up working in, you have good support to discuss your work in an environment somewhat akin to clinical supervision. Counselling skills will help you to feel equipped to deal with conflicts of opinion in an appropriate fashion, BTW.

You have had some gentle, eloquent and accurate constructive criticism. Which you asked for. And you have had feedback from potential service users/clients, healthcare professionals and qualified breastfeeding helpers.

[Kveta]

I'm with tiktok too! I paid for NCT antenatal classes before my first child was born, and there was a bfing class included - but I would not have paid for a class from someone not recognised by one of the UK bfing 'groups' (LLL, NCT, BfN, ABM).

[MrsHoarder]

Not wanting to "attack" you, but all the breastfeeding support I needed was the basic introduction in the NHS antenatal class and then as a new mum going to the local breastfeeding cafe for £1 including pints of squash and biscuits (plus bfing counsellor and local midwife support). They were run by volunteers with the midwives coming from the local health centre.

Just have a quick search for these in your local area, if there are loads then I think you'll struggle to make a living when there's effectively "free" help. The only possible business model I could see would be if you could offer 1-to-1 support in the home after discharge from hospital.

And yes to professional bodies, insurance etc. Very important in a healthcare-type setting.

[EauRouge]

Well, you did say you were happy to hear all opinions, positive and negative! I think you've been given some very constructive feedback. I also think that it would be really difficult to set up a business like you describe without the backing of a large organisation like NCT or LLL (or the NHS) behind you.