Does every health care professional breastfeed?

[Iammeltin]

Since the birth of my child and the way they push “breast is best” and my health visitor actually telling me she can’t promote formula even if breastfeeding isn’t working, not caring about the mothers mental health in the process.

Do all midwives/health visitors/doctors breast feed then? None of them use formula?

I needed it but was too tired and stressed to make it properly. Took a couple of weeks before I figured it out. An idiots guide in the antenatal class would have been helpful.

Who goes through their entire adulthood including 9 months of pregnancy not thinking this might be a useful skill to aquire ? unlike breast feeding you can pratice making up a bottle before you have a live baby.

Big difference is when you have a tiny baby waiting for that bottle and you’ve had no help or support in getting it right. Pre natal classes spend ages on breast feeding but little or none on bottle feeding even though the majority will be using formula.

@neurodiversitydoctor and @curlewkate I have seen a lot of posts on mumsnet though about unsafe formula feeding. Mums stating things like powdered formula is sterile (it most definitely is not) and not being aware that the water needs to be hot before you add the scoops of formula. Also, many mums talk about using the perfect prep machine when there is a lot of debate about if these are safe ( again, all to do with how hot the machines make the water). If we are concerned with public health we should be working to ensure new parents know this as a tiny newborn is put at risk when formula is made incorrectly. Also, talking about paced bottle feeding etc and encouraging parents to ensure they are the only ones who feed in the early days to help with bonding and to help the baby feel safe and secure are all arguably important. All of this if you know a mother wants to bottle feed, if a mother wants to breastfeed then this should be fully supported. I am very pro maternal choice and for body autonomy when it comes to all issues around birth and infant feeding.

Sure, a straightforward vaginal birth might be the best thing for the mother.

The glaringly obvious flaw in that argument is that no one can guarantee a straightforward vaginal birth, whereas an elective c section is a lot more likely to be straightforward.

A non straightforward vaginal birth can lead to much more horrific injuries and trauma to the mother. And (rare but possible) life changing injuries to the baby too if there is a prolonged lack of oxygen.

@Devilsmommy "Many stories I've read on here of women who are almost broken because they feel like they can't give formula because it's constantly drilled in that breast is best."

My perception is different. I see a lot of women being told to switch to formula or "top up" when they hit any issues with BF. Often (not always) a little support and information will get them over the difficulty. If that's what they want.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/breast_and_bottle_feeding/5217092-i-hate-breastfeeding-anyone-else

Not everyone enjoys breast feeding and wishes they hadn’t

@Parker231 "
"Not everyone enjoys breast feeding and wishes they hadn’t"
No, not everyone enjoys or wants to BF. I agree.

Yrs thanks I have worked in the NICU, I am very aware of the impact of HIE/ birth aphyxia. I am just stating my experience is that most peads aim for a vaginal birth.

Just as with feeding it is maternal choice. Women should be supported to have the birth and feeding experience they want.

Well, me. I wasn't anti-formula, but I just assumed breastfeeding would be easy and I wouldn't need to use formula. It didn't occur to me to practise making up a bottle. And if I hadn't been completely sleep-deprived and massively stressed about my ill baby I probably wouldn't have found it difficult, but I did.

I had two close friends who had babies before me, but they both exclusively breastfed and then pumped. It just didn't occur to me that it wouldn't work out the same for me. Naive of course, but like every new mum.

Health care professionals are required to promote public health messages.

breastfeeding, healthy eating, don’t smoke, don’t drink too much, exercise

they are not required to practice any of these themselves and some will formula feed, smoke, drink a lot, eat to much and never go to the gym.

Think of an advert for a product. Any product. That advert will promote what that product is, how to use it, how to get the best from it, where to get it, how it will enhance your life. I would imagine that health visitors would expect most mums to work out all that about bottle feeding fairly easily and would target those who really couldn't with more specific help. There are lots of mum's who can't do all that in respect to breast feeding, so support is there to support them if they want to breast feed, but can't figure it out! As for why don't all healthcare workers breast feed, because they will have the same range of issues that other mums may have with feeding.

Well said.

In all of the literature I got from the hospital there was very detailed formula feeding advice. And hearing the conversations around me in the ward could hear plenty of advice being given re feeding. Think I was the only one breastfeeding out of 6 beds.
Change HV if they aren't supporting you. I only chose to breastfeed on the basis it would be easier for me, would have FF in a heartbeat if I had problems at the newborn stage.
How old is baby op? Try not to let it all get to you, it's so hard with your first x

"Because the HV will try and push and push you to breastfeed even if it's really not working so it would be a lot better for baby and for mother's mental health if they said it's ok to use formula"

I have literally never heard of this happening except in the more extreme NCT groups. It must be vary from trust to trust.

My NCT experience was that they were way more pushy for an "intervention-free birth" than for breastfeeding.

Which is bonkers, because mothers have next to no control for how a vaginal birth might turn out. If your baby gets into distress, you go along with interventions because not doing so can lead to life changing injury for you and/or the baby. Sometimes every minute can be crucial. When shit hits the fan, you've got no choice but to go along with it.

I got totally brainwashed into thinking a c section was the end of the world, when really my EMCS wasn't the end of the world, it was the end of the torture.

Breastfeeding is something you can work at slowly/gradually, alongside mixed feeding with formula, expressing, etc. You've got a lot more control over how it turns out (not total control but more than with birth).

This is NCT I'm talking about, not NHS, so, sorry for the slight derail.

I don't know a single person IRL who went to an NCT group. Only ever hear of it on MN