breastfeeding counselling

[hercules]

How do you go about training to be a bf counsellor? I've thought bout this for a long time but never seemed to have the time. I always thought a bit of an expert on the subject as I bf my ds until he was 4 and read lots on it. However my cousin in law recently had a baby and wanted to bf. She was in hospital for 4 days before we went to see her. She was in a lot of pain and had already given 18 bottles. The hospital was really short staffed and had no time to help her. They refused to let her go to see a counsellor who was doing a session in another part of the hospital at that time because she needed to be discharged first. My cil has recently moved here from Srilanka and wsnt keen to contact a bfc so I did this for her. She was meant to visit a clinic as advised by bfc along with other good advice. I dont know my cil well but my dh says she is now bottle feeding. I really feel that I could have helped her more but I lacked real expertise and she wasnt comfortble going elsewhere. It is maddness that the gov say bf but then dont provide real resources and support!!!1 I'm not saying they shouldnt give research findings but must help as well.
Anyway back to original ? any advice about ceoming a counsellor welcome. Also is it all voluntary or are there paid bfc?

[tiktok]

You can train with one of the four volunteer organisations, NCT, LLL, ABM, BfN - all have websites and helplines where you could ask for more information. They're all mentioned several times on this board, so I expect a search would yeild something.

The training covers similar ground in all four, though they do have some organisational differences - for instance, NCT covers all parenthood issues, and the other 3 are solely bf orgs.

They are all volunteers most of the time. Time to train is about 2 years.

You can also train at a much more mother-to-mother level as a peer supporter. There are a number of schemes for this - your HV or midwife might know what goes on in your patch. A peer supporter is usually trained in a couple of months or so. She is also a volunteer.

Sometimes, bfcs are paid by the health service as they sometimes attend clinics or drop ins.

Your story is a sad one - I don't suppose your cousin in law could be prevailed on to write and tell the hospital how poorly they supported her bf? 18 bottles in 4 days?! Refusing her permission to see someone?

I agree with the ridiculousness of promoting breastfeeding and then not backing it up with support

[hercules]

Thanks toktok, I will try your suggestions. I suggested she write but I know she wont. I gave birth to dd there last oct and was told to give her a bottle as she was crying, my milk hadnt come in yet and she was hungry. I said no and that was it, no more help - attitude was suit yourself! It was embarrassing(I know it shouldnt have been cos all the other mothers who were listening at the time (2am) were bottlefeeding and there babies were sleeping soundly.