To think that "97% of women can breastfeed" is a load of crap

It might be accurate if we are talking about physically producing milk but it doesn't account for other factors and is very black and white.

I assume it’s about the ability to produce enough milk to feed a baby. So many people give up and think they don’t have enough milk because there’s a lack of education / support around cluster feeding , colostrum etc when in reality it’s very rare.

What were the signs that you had no milk?

When I had my son years ago, I bought maternity bras and nighties etc expecting to breastfeed but I had no milk whatsoever so had to bottle feed and return the clothes. I can’t be the only one with no milk?

I couldn’t breastfeed and I really tried. I produced enough milk to keep my babies happy for the first few weeks but after that I just couldn’t produce enough to give them a proper feed. I could only get an ounce out of each boob. It made me feel so depressed when all you hear is breast is best. I felt like I was failing from the off. But now my eldest 2 are healthy adults I’ve realised, in the grand scheme of things, it didn’t really matter.

I produced very little milk for both my dc, and second time round I was determined to exclusively breastfeed, unfortunately it just wasn’t possible. I was given domperidone to try and stimulate lactation, it did bugger all apart from give me the shits!
I’m not convinced about the 97% statistic. As in my NCT group it was definitely more than 3% who couldn’t produce enough milk. So whilst 100% of us could produce a tiny amount of milk, there were 4 (out of 15) of us who couldn’t produce enough and ended up with combined feeding.

historically babies would either have died from malnutrition or started on pulped up food (normally bread mixed with cows milk) very early on ie within 10days of being born, if there was no access to a wet nurse.

My DD couldn't latch on despite much trying over several days. I was milked like a cow to give her the first colostrum. It was painful demoralising and woeful all round. I then changed to bottle feeding and never looked back.

I think the 97% is the amount of women who can produce sufficient milk for their baby. Throughout history women helped each other by feeding others babies if the mum wasn't able. Ofcourse wet nurses were also a thing when women chose not to. There will always be babies who aren't able to latch for anatomical reasons or prematurity etc, but that above percentage probably assumes that these babies can recieve expressed breast milk via an NG or special bottle.

Of all the things that happened during my pregnancy and my child’s birth, the only one I really regret is trying to breastfeed. I went to the classes, I was encouraged by the midwife to the extent she told me not to buy any bottles or sterilising kit as everyone can breastfeed. I was totally bought in. 6 days later my baby was in the children’s ward,
dehydrated, significant loss of birth weight. Like the sleep deprived idiot I was I still persisted, eventually moving to mixed feeding as my baby was facing kidney damage. You see the thing is help is no good if the milk isn’t there. And I was advised to carry on feeding then give formula then express, particularly through the night, with a breast pump by which time it was time for the next feed. Exhausting. I was a shell. The hospital said that they had at least one admission a week of babies like mine who were dehydrated due to mum not having adequate
milk. People talk about getting help and support like you have all the time in the world
to do this and let milk supplies increase when the baby needs hydration and nutrients immediately. 10 years on I wish I’d just gone to exclusive formula from the first hint of trouble. I would have enjoyed the first 3-4 months so much more and
my child might not have been hospitalised.

Never had kids but seen loads of mums bullied by the breast feeding community they were trying to the point they were crying 😢

It's probably true if baby's life depended on it. 97% of women could probably keep baby alive until 6 months, not necessarily thriving or gaining well, but alive long enough to start solids (which if not going well would have probably been introduced far earlier than ideal). Sore nipples, too many night feeds, struggling to meet the needs of other children while cluster feeding etc are perfectly valid reasons to choose formula these days - formula babies do great! But if it wasn't an option in times passed and the result of stopping literally meant a dead baby if you couldn't find another woman to feed them, then understandably mothers would show incredible grit even when circumstances were far from ideal and everyone was struggling. I say thank goodness for formula - and I ebf so never even used it!

I could breastfeed with all 3 of mine but chose not to.. It is exactly that, a choice!
Didn't stop the breast is best brigade getting on my case though. For some it's natural and comes easily and for others it's not so.. Always do what's right for you

Goodness! I’m so glad you’re well now but so cross and sad that you were dismissed too. It’s so crushing when something that’s meant to happen (and you really want to happen!) just doesn’t.

I appreciate that everyone has a different experience, but all women need is to be listened to, believed and supported. Smart comments and judgement are really not needed. No one knows what a new mother is going through.

Much love and an un-Mumsnetty hug to you.

Yes 97% of women can. 70-80% of babies are breastfed after birth, 55% are still being breastfed at 6 weeks, 34% are still having SOME breast milk at 6 months, 1% are exclusively breastfeed for full 6 months. Source: NHS.

Not sure how these statistics are gained especially when there is such little after-care post-pregnancy in the UK.

I was able to breastfeed my first because a mid-wife gave me support and encouragement whilst I spent 3 days in hospital after a Caesarian birth. If I had a normal birth & was sent home immediately, I’m not sure if I would have persevered. Her words helped me more that she will ever know.

My second was a premie who arrived at 27 weeks so had to be tube fed for 8 weeks. I was able to breastfeed him only because I was still feeding my first and pumping as much as I could and doing skin-to-skin.

I do believe (or hope) it’s possible with the right support but no way do I believe 97% of women actually can just like that.

So sorry you went through that and were judged by some wierdo. I had the same BUT only for child #3. I was devasted - went to several very dismissive GPs who basically implied I was making a fuss - and got really bad PND as a result. I tried breasfeeding counsellors, taking domperidone - the lot. A year later as I was getting sicker and sicker, it was finally discovered that I'd had a brain bleed while giving birth and this had knocked out all my hormones. I wish I could go back and tell that loudly and at length to the silly cow who tutted at my formula purchase, too :)

But not late first motherhood. Which is very different to a woman with 3 or 4 kids have a whoopsie baby at 42.

My best friend couldn't produce milk, I could but DS1 couldn't suck hard enough and at 18 still can't drink out of sports caps.

Im sorry, this is so awful. I have no idea why someone would feel the need to pass comment let alone such a cruel one!

I'm not suggesting we just leave it all to nature and if the babies die, they die. I'm just saying that sometimes we over complicate things, and sometimes that can dull our natural instincts and get in the way. Not always, but sometimes.

Fortunately we have formula if anyone wants to or needs to use that, or to mix feed.

I'm just saying that women I know who took the approach of 'shove baby on boob and see if it works' often have a higher success rate than ones that could rattle off the pros and cons of different nursing positions, have detailed knowledge in latches, and 3 lactation consultants ready to help if needed.

Leaving things to nature would mean that lots of babies would die, as they used to.

Things like mat leave are far from universally available or evenly applied as well. You couldn't breastfeed if you have to be back at work outside the home and away from the baby PDQ.

This. Just another chance for women to be always in the wrong. And often in this case failed by other women.

This thread is really interesting.

The consensus seems to be more antenatal education would help but @Babyboomtasticyou seem to be saying it’s all random anyway and we should just go back to basics and give it a go and hope for the best?

I’m not sure but it’s depressing that the “you just didn’t try hard enough” narrative prevails even when cloaked in language around educating ourselves or getting back to what Mother Nature intended. If you do have genuine low supply, seems like you’ll just be disbelieved and judged from every single angle.

I agree - I don't think sitting at home googling ever helps! If you google cluster feeding, you are told that a baby will have mutiple short feeds over a few hours - this sounds a lot different to my experience of having my baby latched nearly 24/7!

What I found made the difference was having a midwife at my bedside reassuring me that this was normal, it would pass, it was how my milk supply would establish, it didn't mean the baby wasn't getting enough milk, I didn't need to supplement with formula. This is what I mean by education.

Around five weeks I started experiencing intense pain when feeding, googling again led me down a warren. I booked a home visit from the infant feeding team and was informed that it was vasospasm and given some helpful tips on acheiving a deeper latch and ways to overcome it.

I'm not convinced that lots of research is always helpful. Certainly some women I know who did a lot of research struggled with breastfeeding, and several of those who did none did fine. I think sometimes it can be overwhelming and we can get so caught up with the technicalities of positions, latch etc, that we ignore our marital instincts. Animals aren't taught these things and most feed fine, so maybe we are overthinking it.