Is it easy to FF on antenatal wards?

[coffeeforone]

For those that FF from birth, did you find it straightforward to do so in hospital after the birth (e.g. at times you are on your own - e.g. DH is at home with toddler)
I could use ready made liquid to save faffing with powder/hot water, but what about washing bottles and sterilizing and warming milk in hospitals? Will the ward staff help make bottles, or would it be ok to leave hungry newborn to do so yourself?

I'm just wondering if it might be easier to give colostrum, then switch to FF once i'm home with a trusty perfect prep and a batch of ready sterilized bottles?

[coffeeforone]

obviously i mean postnatal wards! duh!

[TheShaniaTwainExperience]

I took the premade ones with the disposable teats

[TheShaniaTwainExperience]

You can buy them in boxes of 6, you just screw the teat on and it’s ready to go

[katand2kits]

You can buy a starter pack of disposable bottles, no washing required. However, giving colostrum is significantly better for your baby.

[TheShaniaTwainExperience]

www.tesco.com/groceries/en-GB/products/283467953

[shouldaknownbetter]

Oh, more than easy if you get the little ready made bottles . Just pop in some hot water to warm up and you're good.

[GummyGoddess]

You don't even need to pop them in hot water to warm them up, when I used one I just popped it into my bra for a while before I needed it. I checked and it was body temperature when it was needed.

[wintersdawn]

Yep most supermarkets stock small starter sets of pre made mix. Be aware though Depending on the hospital/ reasons for ff you'll have a mixed reaction from midwives. Some will support and some will still try and get you to give breast feeding a go.

[TimesNewRoman]

I think they can also supply the ready made ones with teats for you. At least they did where I was, they asked what brand you would like. I gave colostrum til i got home but I have heard if you are FF they can feed your baby in the night without waking you if you agree :)
Also, i just got a bloody pop up from NHS about BFing when i went into this post

[coffeeforone]

Thanks! I now remember I have seen these before in supermarkets but wondered why anyone would use/buy them (as it is some much cheaper to just pour into a reusable bottle). Totally forgot they existed - now I know the intended purpose!

[TheShaniaTwainExperience]

*TimesNewRoman

[TheShaniaTwainExperience]

Oops bold fail

[coffeeforone]

Haha! i have the same pop-up on my screen!

[coffeeforone]

Depending on the hospital/ reasons for ff you'll have a mixed reaction from midwives

That's another reason I might just try to give colostrum until I'm home. Not sure I can bear the judgement in a delicate hormonal postnatal state!

[CannotEvenThink]

You will need to ask your midwife, different hospitals have different facilities. Where I work we do have cold water sterilisers but we don't have facilities to make powdered milk up and we can't store formula milk in the fridge so you need the starter packs.

[TimesNewRoman]

Stand your ground. The ladies on my ward were quite good about it. You're an adult and capable of making your own decision, they cant bully you.

[dinosaurkisses]

I was intending to BF but when it didn’t happen, the midwives dropped two or three pre-made bottles of your preferred formula round every couple of hours. Once when I had used all of my bottles and asked for more, the nurse scolded me for using all I had and said I should be smuggling some away so I had a stash for when we went home 😂.

I gave BF a go, so I don’t know if it was because of that, but the midwives really didn’t care that we were using formula. Might be because our trust (Belfast) has very low uptake of breastfeeding so they didn’t push it as much as other posters are saying they experienced.

[Swatsup]

Mine actually tried to persuade me to feed formula! Baby was hungry and I didn’t have any milk as had been induced. In my grumpy hormonal state I refused and everyone had to put up with a screaming baby for the night :-)

[Lules]

I got no pressure at all. I bought the starter packs but they had throw away bottles, you just had to supply the milk. They had no facilities to sterilise bottles but they had a fridge. It varies though.

[Dinosauratemydaffodils]

I've put in my "birth" plan not to discuss feeding with me and I'll be taking pre-made bottles with disposable teats with me as from memory they won't store formula in the fridge, although I was breastfeeding last time so might have that a bit muddled.

[coffeeforone]

Thanks for all the replies! I now think the starter pack bottles are definitely the way to go!

[GoodMorning1]

They supply the ready made ones on the children's ward at my hospital. Not sure about the postnatal ward.

[Bananarama12]

I took a starter pack but they had pre made ones on the ward and there was no judging.

[Lovesagin]

There were little bottles with disposable teats on my ward, was made to feel like scum for asking for them though!

[statetrooperstacey]

I got given them by the hospital but if I were you I would take the starter packs to be safe.
Midwives were horrible. Practically hissing at me whilst lavishing attention on the breastfeeders