To ask why breatfeeding mother get free hospital food

[McHappyPants2012]

In work last week and was working on the children ward. Formula feed babies the mothers had to pay £1.50 for a meal yet breastfeeding mother was told ther is no charge.

Formula on children ward are only provided in an emergency so I don't think it's down to cost

Good question, Blu.

I don't feel that strongly, and I have spent time in hospital with two babies - and also one of the DC when older.

I also wondered wondered if this was a bit 'stealth'.

But then is that fair on the mother of the child who has just turned 4 who doesn't want mum/dad to leave them because they are scared? Last time DS was in we had a 14 year old opposite us whose mum didn't leave him at all because her son was in pain and upset. Sticking an age on it is close on impossible which is why not providing it other than for parents who are BFing under 1s as that is ensuring the child is being properly nourished.

Or equally could easily make it meals provided for the principal carers of the under 5's. You could charge £1.50 for all of them, I doubt anyone would care or notice much. I think it's about having some equality, consideration, and compassion for all.

In response to op - I've no idea.

I wasn't offered meals at all when my 8 week old was admitted. Had to find my own over 3 days.

Although that was 17y ago so things might have changed:)

When dd and I were discharged from the local maternity unit and set back to the bigger hospital for dd to be admitted onto te children's ward when dd was ,2 days old, (I was recovering from c section, dd had lost a lot of weight and was not feeding and had been unrousable) I was informed the next morning that they do not feed parents and I could leave dd in her room and go to the canteen for food (5 min walk away 2 floors up). I was still attempting to bf, although failing do I do not think they fed any parent. They also only provide formula for emergency, so as soon as someone could get formula to the hospital they would not provide it anymore. I did not leave my 3 day old baby alone in a room where no one could hear her if she cried, the first morning they gave me some toast, after that I got my dh to bring food in.

DS2 was is hospital when he was 3 weeks old and ebf. I was given 3 meals a day, but they were from the childrens menu, and hardly edible! The nurse said it was because I needed to eat in order to make milk, and that they were effectively feeding the patient. There was also a kitchen on the ward with kettle, tea, coffee, milk etc and a microwave so wcould cook our own meals.

DS1 spent a night in (a different) hospital recently. I was given tea and biscuits at the minor injuries unit while waiting for ambulance transfer, and more tea when we got to the childrens ward. In the morning I was offered toast and tea/coffee. DS got to order his lunch, but I wasn't offered anything. There were also signs up saying that the kitchen was NOT for parent use, and that a hot drinks machine was located at (somewhere) and the canteen was (somewhere) Thankfully we left before lunch (much to DS' annoyance, he was looking forward to his fish chips and peas, followed by jelly and ice-cream.

BF mothers make the babies milk and therefore need to eat to produce milk. Hospitals provide cows milk and baby food for children that are old enough to need more than just breastmilk.
It is the NHS being pro breastfeeding, by supporting the mums.

My hospital has the same rules with regards to breastfeeding mothers, but tbh they feed anyone on the children's ward. When DS1 was in hospital for a week I was 30 weeks pregnant with DS2, and they could not have offered me more food if they tried. They even offered it to DH and DM if they were there around mealtimes! I didn't eat much of it though, just got ready meals.

Not NHS though, as I'm in the Channel Islands

i was in hospital a couple of times when DD was little and fully BF and got the free food (only for BF mums); there was no option to pay as a staying-in parent on the other hand.

was told I got the hospital foods because DD needs to be fed. I had no other family around at that point, nobody to come in and bring me food during the day, and without the option of paying for food on the ward either, there wasn't any alternative really. any woman who over breastfed a baby (esp a sick baby) knows how vital it is to eat & drink well.

well i'm a bf mum with a baby who was in hospital twice.

i had to be there to feed my baby. i couldn't nip home for a meal or a shower. well, i suppose i could have but i didn't want her to have a formula feed and for my milk supply to go down (she was a newborn).

several times i wasn't told when a meal was there - there seemed to be variable meal times so i missed out on several meals. only crisps in the vending machine.

and i certainly didn't get a 3 course meal.

but still i was grateful for the food i did get and was frankly surprised that i was being given it free of charge.

i also suppose that they aren't feeding my baby formula, so her budget goes to me!

I was never given food when DD was in hospital. She was 12-14.
I dont resent BF mothers getting it at all.
But I often couldnt leave DD's side.
I had no-one to bring in food.
We had lost my income overnight because I had to care for her.
The hospital food for her was substandard and sometimes dangerous (re-heated).

Food was one of the most difficult issues whilst she was ill. She became anorexic, she lost a lot of weight which made the treatment much harder on her, I had to live on what I could grab and sometimes it was costing me upwards of £20 a day to feed us. Breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks/drinks. One hospital was in the West End were food was plentiful but very expensive, the other was in the middle of nowhere. We stayed in for a 6 week stretch once. She couldnt eat for most of it but I was caring for her 24/7 and I had to. That works out at more than £800.

There was no canteen in the brand new multi million pound hosptial, no subsidies for parents in the other one.

It was horribly stressful trying to feed me and my sick child.

No one gave a fuck about my welfare and there was a lack of understanding about how children with cancer should be fed.

Chemo fucks up the tastebuds. Children on treatment need lots and lots of calories. She got twice cooked chips, cottage pie, and scrambled eggs. they didnt even have pasta!

Parents are needed to care for the children. An oncology ward couldnt cope without the parents. There are not enough staff to feed and wash and change and sort out housekeeping for children as well as undertake all the medical stuff.

This is not a stealth post, ds was bf'd and dd ff'd so have had both ends of the coin.

I think there should be provisions for all sleep in parents. Even if it a room with a fridge microwave and kettle. Every one needs to eat, there is a need for ff to provide emotional comfort to there children

When DS was in hospital and I was BF they gave me food, as I was an extension of the patient (two separate hospitals said the same thing). Because I was providing nutrition for the patient, they had to provide nutrition for me.

Never been fed on a children's ward since I stopped breastfeeding (well not legitimately, but since I made friends with the dinner lady in our local hospital, she gives me the left over food once she's done her job!).

I was at a lecture given by a senior neonatal nurse with a particular interest in donor milk banks at uni last week. She mentioned that donor BM is bought by the hospital for some older toddlers and children if they have certain conditions or are recovering from certain surgeries but that it would be beneficial to more children than those who 'qualify' for . It is £100/litre so perhaps BFing aids children's recovery to the extent that they wish to support the mothers in avoiding seperation or hunger that could damage their BFing?

I had access to a toaster. DP brought me some takeaway. It is so long ago I struggle to remember - I think they may have given me a lunch but there was also a canteen so I may have got my own.
I didn't go home in two weeks, coslept in a room and fed little one constantly while they pumped her with antibiotics using IVs in feet and hands. The staff were kind but obviously busy. I used to push mine everywhere with me in a wheelie cot thing when she wasn't in bed with me.
And I kept an eye on other people's when they needed a fag.
It was like being in prison without the yard time. But my kid got better so all hail the NHS: if they did give me a free meal good cos it takes an extra 500 cal a day to bf and Pregnacare vits on an empty stomach make you heave.
Still lost weight though!

If on a paed ward; the nurses need to ensure nourishment for their patients. The parents arent the patients the babies are.

If FF the ward provides milk. If BF the nurses ensure nourishment by feeding the mother.

YABU.

I think parents rooms are one of the most important parts of the childrens ward TBH. When DS is in sometimes just having 5 minutes with a coffee away from the business of a ward is a godsend. When DS was in HDU (and had 1-1 nursing staff) I spent many an hour at night time sat in there with my thoughts. Its also nice to be in a room where you can chat to other parents.

They don't provide formula they have a small amount incase of emergencies

Thanks for sharing your experience MrsDVere - It's making me think that really we need better care and provision for all parents of children in hospital, not just the youngest ones. I think this free meals for BFers is a bit of an anomaly personally - though crucial that adequate nutrition is provided I agree. I guess I feel it's a good start that needs to be much more widely offered.

We were recently at great Ormond st for 12 days with my DS who's 4 years old. I am also bf-ing my dd who's 21 months. She didn't stay in with me but was home. Obviously at this age she's already eating solids and drinking cows milk.

But the nurses still offered me food vouchers (I didn't take them but I was grateful for the gesture) when they heard I was bf-ing. I did express my milk to keep supply going and put the milk in ds's breakfast cereal (good stuff and all that!!).

I was told in clear and statistical terms that my son had a much higher chance of staying alive if I bf'd him. It was the worst pressure I ever felt, expressing many times per day in a god awful room, terrified beyond terrified.

It was bloody hard work. I was lucky, I had my DH to get my meals. Without him I would have lived on crisps and maybe given up. Free meals would have made things much easier on me because I wouldn't have had to go out to buy food (because we weren't allowed to bring food into the ward). It was hard having to leave his bed so much as it was, I was away for 6 x 30+ minutes for expressing then three meals plus sleep.

DD1 (now 6y) had an asthma attack at 15m and I stayed overnight with her, she was bfing and I was pg. I wasn't allowed to leave her side to get food, I wasn't allowed to take her with me to the canteen and I wasn't allowed any food from the ward initially but then the nurse took pity on me and gave me a slice of cold toast.

Fast forward to DD2 being in with an chest infection at 11m (same hospital, same ward) and I got fed as she was bfing.

DD3 had yet another asthma attack last year and needed to stay in, she was over 2y and bfing, they couldn't understand that both of us were entitled to food from the canteen. They wanted to feed a 2y baby food jars (they have them on the ward for parents to help themselves but she'd never eaten them anyway!) so as an alternative brought us the pureed food menu and got even more confused when I said she ate normal food not purees (obv. bfed toddler = jarred or puree food only). I ended up asking for a jacket potato and beans .

When she was under a year she had 10 admissions for bronchiolitis and I had to stay with her as if she was well enough to feed she bf, if not I pumped and the milk was given to her as fresh as possible through her NG tube. At times I was pumping 12+ times a day because she was too ill to bf, it was tricky to leave her to go to the loo let alone the canteen for a sit down meal due to the timings of care and pumping (I wanted to hold her/touch her while she was fed so couldn't be pumping then). Occasionally I was able to run to the vending machines for a snack but it wasn't every day.

I can only surmise they don't give formula feeding parents meals because (in my local children's ward at least) they provide formula for babies use and they probably can't afford to give all parents free meals so only go with the minimum they can get away from.

DS2 was in hospital for a few days this year, aged 3 and no longer having any BF or FF. His meals were free, as is right and proper - but the only way I could get fed was either to wait until he was asleep and hope like fuck he slept longer than a few minutes, or to ring for a pizza (they deliver to the ward, the geniuses!)

Of course, you weren't supposed to eat at the bedside, so I again had to wait for the fleeting sleeps.

I don't know about other people's experiences, but DS1 was in for a month as a BF baby, and this time with DS2 - neither one of them could have been safely left for longer than the time it takes to have a quick shower, the nursing staff are relying on parents being there.

I always thought the logic of feeding the breastfeeding mother was that she was providing the baby's food. Breastmilk is undoultably superior but a life and I think its fair that the mother is provided with a meal as she can't get away to the canteen so easily.

I think formula babies should be given formula. Its the wrong time for a breast is best campaign. Mothers feel shit enough having their baby possibly fighting for his/her life.

Also what happens when baby is on solids? Should the finanical amount be reduced? Or would the complecity cost more.

Pureed food for a 2 year old? Even when DS was 8 months and in hospital he had a normal meal.