"'Breast is best' bias blamed for hundreds of dehydrated babies"

[beef]

let battle commence!

I'm saying nowt!

[trinityrhino]

I'm gonna politly say nothing too

[trinityrhino]

can't spell grrr

[expatinscotland]

just goes to show you how important breastfeeding counsellors are. i had no idea what a good latch was till a counsellor spent hours w/me until i could actually feel it for myself. then i knew when it wasn't right and poor latch = baby not feeding well.

[SoupDragon]

It's not breastfeeding that's to blame, it's crap support from midwives, health visitors etc.

[bluejelly]

Seems to be one (private) dr saying this.
Mmmmm

[flutterbee]

Well I have read the article and think that it is spot on. It starts off very sensationalist but then points out the basic facts.

Is this thread really one that we need on a day as hot as today?

[PrettyCandles]

We've got this crazy idea in teh UK that we mustn't put a silicone teat anywhere near a baby's mouth if they're to breastfeed. Well, I mix-fed one child, and gave the other occasional bottles, and neither ever rejected the boob. We also have this crazy idea that babies don't need - or even mustn't have -water, no matter how hot it is. Every single one of my breastfeeding relatives in Israel gave their babies water to drink in the summer. None of them rejected the boob/failed to feed/got dehydrated.

[Snafu]

I do hope this wasn't posted with the express purpose of starting a ruck. It's too hot for that.

[Gizmo]

This scenario is exactly what happened to me and my DS.

But I think the first 5 paras of this article are missing an opportunity to make a very important point: if it's happening in the numbers the DT is suggesting, it's a scandal. But the scandal is that new mothers are not given proper support and advice to get feeding established, not that breastfeeding is promoted above formula feeding.

[munz]

agree with soupy, thankfully I had an excellent care team in our hospital as a first timer they like u to stay in if ur BF until your confident u know what the latch should be like etc and they'll sit with u if u want to make sure all's well. (althou it was a differnt m/w who told me aboutt he rugby hold when I came home, the others in the hospital said it was ment to hurt a little but rugby hold didn't at all)

[Enid]

'hundreds' not very many though is it

a non-article if ever I saw one

[edam]

It makes a huge, illogical leap between dehydration and poor support for breastfeeding and doesn't give precise numbers or any source for them as far as I can see. Bet Claire Byam Cook said something immediately before that quote which hasn't been included. The start of the article argues one point with little evidence, then the people quoted beyond the private paediatrician are talking about something quite different.

Poor support for breastfeeding causes a lot of problems, but there's no evidence here that it is really causing 'hundreds' of admissions for dehydration. And formula fed babies can get dehydrated too.

[SenoraPostrophe]

what an outrageous way to report a serious, if small scale story.

[BonyM]

Ok.

I am very pro-breastfeeding - dd2 is 16mths and has never had formula or cows milk to drink, I intend to feed her for as long as she wants to continue.

DD1 was breastfed until 9mths when I reluctantly stopped - I was back at work and found expressing too difficult and my supply dwindled until it eventually ceased.

However - when dd2 was 4 days old, she was admitted to hospital, jaundiced and dehydrated. My milk didn't come in until day 5. I am assuming the two are connected, although nobody actually said as such. To give the hospital their due, I was not encouraged to give formula - they put dd on a drip to raise her fluid levels and a lovely midwife helped me to get the latch right etc.

As a 2nd time mum, I was more or less left to get on with things, maybe if I had given the odd bottle of formula until my milk came in, we wouldn't have endured a terribly distressing time in the hospital.

[beef]

"'hundreds' not very many though is it "

[PumpkinPimp]

Its a little scaremongering, to say the least.

I agree that there is a huge lack of support and proper guidance for b/feeding mothers, but to suggest that b/feeding = risk of dehydration = brain damage. Tis a little sensationalist IMO.

What the article hints at, without saying so directly, is that if b/feeding mothers are having difficulties it is very very important for them to seek advice and proper help quickly. There can be a number of reasons why a baby isnt feeding properly - incorrect latch/b/feeding difficulties isn't always going to be the case.

Anyway, the story of the 2 day old baby doesnt sit right with me, since its often up to 5 days that a mother's milk comes in. Im pretty sure that there must have been other issues to go with it.

[Blu]

What an outrageous way to report a story about people not being told / not knowing to give extra feeds in hot weather.

Someone made this excellent popint on MN only the other day...Harpsi, I think!

[Piffle]

This is an indictment of the lack of post natal breastfeeding care new mothers are given.
Appalling discharging mothers without helping them establish breastfeeding and giving them the number of a support line/local bfc in case of any problems.

[PumpkinPimp]

I often wonder whether the 10-14 day confinement period that mothers had 50-60 years ago isnt actually a very good idea.

Women are expected to get up and go within hours of the birth, and carry on as "normal". If you are breastfeeding I happen to think its important to allow yourself a good amount of time to spend on establishing b/feeding in the early days, instead of worrying about how long you are pinned to the armchair for because you have washing, ironing, cooking, supermumming etc.

There is no reason that childbirth should necessarily warrant you being debilitated for days on end if the birth has been "straightforward" etc, but I think that being allowed a good amount of time to simply learn to b/feed is worth being "confined" for.

[joelallie]

Breast is bl**dy best no matter how many scare stories are published about it. If the mother is drinking enough liquid and feeding on demand once bfing is established babies can't get dehydrated.

However I have to say that I agree with the poster who said that it doesn't always do damage to use a bottle from time to time...or even a training cup. I've been bfing 3 kids for the best part of ten years (minus 18 months or so when I was pregnant) and in all that time I used a few top up bottles and the occassional bottle of water. It didn't stop the supply, cause nipple confusion or any of those things we are warned about.

[PumpkinPimp]

No FF, but it should be

[joelallie]

Just wanted to add that i wasn't allowed out of hospital with no#1 until I'd established feeding - still had some problems but I went back for more help. That was nearly 10 yrs ago. Obviously things have changed