Pumping Colostrum/No formula in Hospital

[ohanotherone]

I have just read the pumping colostrum thread lower down the topic and wondered about doing it myself as the midwife has said they don't provide any formula even if prescribed by the paediatricians and last time due to medical reasons my DS needed top up milk as I couldn't produce enough. I don't really want to buy formula just in case as it would be nice not to have to.

So my question is....if I start pumping nowish (maybe 35 weeks), will it make my normal milk come in or will it just be colostrum until the baby is actually born????

[RitaMorgan]

Your milk doesn't come in until the placenta is removed, so don't worry about that.

Was there a medical reason for you not producing enough colostrum? I am sure that if there is a medical need they will provide formula as there is no way they would deny a baby medicine! Seems a strange thing for the midwife to say - I'd clarify it with someone at the hospital maybe?

[TruthSweet]

If the paeds prescribe formula then I can't imagine that it wouldn't be provided. What right do the MWs have to say a baby can't be fed if the mother is unable to do it herself? Or did she mean that if a paed prescribed formula they would give donor milk instead to a newborn (only circ. I could understand that comment)?

Definitely get it clarified by the post-natal ward.

Though a baby only needs feeds of 5-7ml on the first day so really not much quantity is needed unless baby has health concerns.

[ohanotherone]

Well, I was induced at 38 weeks due to PE, had pretty poor post natal care due to the ward being busy, was kept in hospital as DS had antibiotics for no good reason suspected Strep B and after 3 days he became jaundiced which may be something to do with me being Rhesus negative or just lack of feeding properly. The midwives said express & cup feed but he was too sleepy, the peads said formula top up as I wasn't producing enough to prevent him becoming dehydrated under lights, so I ended up pumping, syringe feeding, cup feeding, ebf with bottle and topping up with formula in bottle and breast feeding. It was so confusing and the hardest marathon type thing I have ever done as I did not sleep at all for 8 days. So I want to avoid this and have a plan this time.

The midwife seemed very knowledgeable and she was clear that only sterile bottles are kept on the ward and mums are expected to ebf OR you bring your own formula in case.

[RitaMorgan]

I'd call the hospital and ask - they might not provide formula for mothers who choose to formula feed but there is no way they would let a baby become ill in the case of jaundice or dehydration. They must have formula somewhere.

[rainbowrain]

yes, i'd call the hospital. when i was in hospital with DS, i'd noticed they had no formula in maternity ward. However there was a store room full of different formulas (prescribed ones and bottles of ready made ones you get in shops) and kettles, sterilisers, disposable bottles etc, on the childrens ward when we were there. i would have thought this was pretty standard as sometimes nurses have to care for very young babies where parents aren't always there so they need the supplies.

[TruthSweet]

They can't seriously let a baby who's mum is out cold for hours due to crash CS under GA not have anything to eat until she regains consciousness (couldn't even let baby bf from mum whilst out as the drugs would be in too high a concentration for baby) so would they ask Dad to go to the supermarket for a carton of formula (who looks after baby? Or does Dad take baby on it's first outing?).

I think she's probably trying to stop women who want to ff from 'trying' to bf and then asking for free formula as they 'can't' bf - as if women would do this

Really idiotic woman (MW that is not you!)

[ohanotherone]

Hmmm...yes I agree with you all that there will be probably be formula somewhere too. But this was the issue last time aswell.

Repeatedly saying I wanted to BF but the midwives treating me as if actually I was just giving up and wanted to formula feed. At one point I said that "If a sheep farmer [my dad was one] had a lamb and the ewe didn't have enough milk, there wasn't colostrum from other ewes in the freezer then we would either bottle feed or tube feed lambs formula so why are sheep on a farm treated better than my son?". Incidentally we'd often put the lamb back to the mum without "nipple confusion" so I think that that is a bit bollocks aswell. It was a bit lost on some the midwives at the Chelsea & Westminste but not on others who agreed with me.

Donor milk is often provided in SCBU's but wasn't offered last time. I will ask about that but would prefer to bring own really.