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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Hospital should feed breastfeeding mums?

548 replies

NurseRosie · 08/01/2017 12:26

AIBU to think that if your baby is in hospital and Mum is staying as fully breastfeeding, the ward should feed Mum? The NHS is not spending money feeding the baby as mummy us making the milk. Baby feeding sometimes 2 hourly and very clingy as unwell. Ward have only given tea and biscuits. Restaurant expensive and open funny times, for example baby upset over lunch yesterday so didn't get down until 2 and they'd stopped serving hopt food for the day. Do you think they should offer mum a meal?

OP posts:
slightlyglitterbrained · 08/01/2017 14:51

Expat - you seem to be getting very personal here.

As I'm sure you are well aware, as are many on this thread, that it's possible to MN on your phone while holding a baby.

Owllady · 08/01/2017 14:52

Sirzy, I would use the ward wheelchair to escape :o

UnbornMortificado · 08/01/2017 14:52

She's not a journo, stop troll hunting a woman with a sick new born.

A journalist starting a thread like this would be shameless. I know fine well I'm not the only poster on this thread who's child has died in hospital Sad

I'd like to hope even daily fail journalists wouldn't be so thoughtless and downright nasty.

Olympiathequeen · 08/01/2017 14:52

When DS was a sick baby the last thing I was interested in was food anyway. And a baby who can still breastfeed is not on the critical list. It was her choice to stay so why drag the nurses and NHS through the mud because they had better things to do than cater for her?

Original poster
NurseRosie · 08/01/2017 14:53

I'm not just thinking of myself as previously stated I worry for others with less support. It's a very busy ward and the staff are sometimes to busy to help, they cover hdu and emergencies in a and e. I'm just surprised that the NHS push breastfeeding but then i feel there is a lack of support sometimes. I understand that this occasion of inconsolable baby was temporary but it was so draining. anyway my baby is now awake after finally sleeping for a few hours so I'm off first a while

OP posts:
Original poster
NurseRosie · 08/01/2017 14:53

I'm not just thinking of myself as previously stated I worry for others with less support. It's a very busy ward and the staff are sometimes to busy to help, they cover hdu and emergencies in a and e. I'm just surprised that the NHS push breastfeeding but then i feel there is a lack of support sometimes. I understand that this occasion of inconsolable baby was temporary but it was so draining. anyway my baby is now awake after finally sleeping for a few hours so I'm off first a while

OP posts:
expatinscotland · 08/01/2017 14:54

That's your interpretation, slightly. I'm posting as someone who has experience of being a parent with a child inpatient for a while. When you get hungry, you have to leave the child and get something to eat. When you need the loo, you have to leave the child to go.

DJBaggySmalls · 08/01/2017 14:54

Hundreds of people are dying of hunger and thirst in hospital because they have no one to get them a drink or food.
Of course a fucking hospital should feed its patients. Its basic care.

www.google.co.uk/search?q=Hundreds+of+people+are+dying+of+hunger+and+thirst+in+hospital

Sirzy · 08/01/2017 14:55

Did you go and get food while he slept then?

Olympiathequeen · 08/01/2017 14:56

DJ. No ones arguing they shouldn't feed patients. Just snowflake mummies with liquid gold mummy milk.

Daisyfrumps · 08/01/2017 14:56

The 2015 RCN good practice guidelines for supporting breastfeeding on children's wards says that nursing mothers should:-

...provide mothers with the environment and facilities which meet their needs for privacy, information and appropriate nutrition

A good hospital trust will adopt this recommendation or similar.

Daisyfrumps · 08/01/2017 14:57

Type... That should say:

The 2015 RCN good practice guidelines for supporting breastfeeding on children's wards says that wards should:-

...provide mothers with the environment and facilities which meet their needs for privacy, information and appropriate nutrition

A good hospital trust will adopt this recommendation or similar.

Shiraznowplease · 08/01/2017 14:58

When dd was admitted at 8mo they fed me, although I didn't cross ,y mind they would or should. She was really poorly and wasn't able to have solids and was unwilling to have anything but a breast feed and despite buying almost every bottle, teat, sippy cup, doidy cup on the market she only ever took to the breast until I stopped at 13 months and then went straight to a normal mug -little madam-.
When I was first offered food I said there was no need as I lived literally 5 minutes away and my dh would bring me something in they insisted as they said it was just the same as giving milk etc to bottle fed babies ... they were providing her food

seven201 · 08/01/2017 14:59

I was fed lots of beige mush for five days. I wouldn't have minded having to buy my own (although logistically after a caesarean and a long 10 min+ walk to the canteen I don't know how). My hospital made it clear they didn't provide formula - again, fine witty that, although I'm pretty sure they had some available if really really needed. When my daughter was in overnight at a few weeks old I was also fed then. I realise how lucky I am/was.

Spikeyball · 08/01/2017 15:00

My son as a newborn was a lot easier to leave for a short while than he is now. When he is in as a day patient I have to take him in the parents room with me, when I need to use the loo, because he isn't safe with a nurse keeping an eye on him.

BlackSwan · 08/01/2017 15:01

Children in hospital don't necessarily even get breakfast. Don't know if it's still the case, but my son had neurosurgery at Great Ormond St and wasn't brought breakfast - there was cornflakes and toast in the common area we could bring him - but that was it. That was 2013.

Sirzy · 08/01/2017 15:03

black that was the set up when I was on post natal having had ds. Not surprisingly not many of the new mums got up and walked halfway across the ward to get some breakfast!

Crumbs1 · 08/01/2017 15:03

Be careful what you wish for.....
When I started paediatric nurse training there were many hospitals that restricted visiting times for babies and children. Parents were seen as getting in the way and 'spoiling' children. Parental visits resulted in little ones crying more so were not seen as a good thing.
Luckily we've moved on and parents are encouraged and supported to be actively involved in their child's care. This doesn't make the nurses job easier it makes it much, much harder but it is better for children to be cared for by their parents and to maintain as much normality as possible.
Hospitals vary in what they are able to offer to parents. Large children's hospitals are geared up for resident families but then children are often in much longer and are sicker. Local hospitals don't get same level of voluntary support so families accommodation is not as nice - often a reclining chair by the cot. Food wise it is harder now much of the catering is outsourced. Staff used to have subsidised canteens that parents could use. The subsidy has now gone. Wards used to have stocks of bread, beans, soup that staff who couldn't get a break or parents could be fed on. This has gone. We used to get trollies of food we dished out on the ward, we always ordered lots so we could feed parents or hungry siblings too. Nowadays food comes up ready plated and IT allows kitchen managers to track where it is going to and match to bed numbers. Staff ordering extra would be liable to disciplinary action nowadays.
I can't see why a feeding mum needs a meal anymore than a parent of an unconscious child with meningitis.
I can't see why the spouse/partner/grandparents can't bring in a sandwich/salad/fruit/yoghurt or even a soup in a flask. It's not difficult and would be more than adequate to sustain a mother for a few days.
I can't see why a mum can't leave a baby without individual attention for half an hour. It might cry a bit but that won't harm it. Alternatively, whenever one of mine has been hospitalised, I waited until my husband arrived to do the parenting before having a shower and going for some fresh air and food. Open visiting hours might mean changing your schedule to fit in with times when grandparents or husband can cover but it's not for long.

Daisyfrumps · 08/01/2017 15:03

Plus from the same document:-

The resident breastfeeding mother needs to be provided with appropriate drinks, snacks and wholesome nutrition to meet her and her infant’s calorie requirement. The standards and provisions of the facilities and the quality of the sustenance offered should be the subject of regular audit.This should be the responsibility of senior nursing staff.

(Breastfeeding in children’s wards and departments - Guidance for good practice, Royal College of Nursing 2015)

ghostspirit · 08/01/2017 15:03

Doc called they just said keep eye on him. Give pain killers. And that was it.

RachelRagged · 08/01/2017 15:04

My youngest DC was in hospital overnight 12 years ago . He was two weeks old at that time . I was bottle feeding and was not fed , I went to the canteen and as its a large hospital was open till late and had hot food through the day and evening .

A woman in a room adjacent was breastfeeding , she was fed.

This was London if that makes any difference.

expatinscotland · 08/01/2017 15:04

'Children in hospital don't necessarily even get breakfast. Don't know if it's still the case, but my son had neurosurgery at Great Ormond St and wasn't brought breakfast - there was cornflakes and toast in the common area we could bring him - but that was it. That was 2013.'

Yes, that's true in other places. I brought my DD1 cereal and toast when she could eat it. Old Yorkhill hospital in 2011-2012.

LucklessMonster · 08/01/2017 15:05

Did you go and get food while he slept then?

I was wondering that too.

GreenGinger2 · 08/01/2017 15:05

Daisy a vending machine just outside the door or a canteen a 5 min stroll away is surely just that and far more than many breast feeding mothers get in hospitals around the world.

Daisyfrumps · 08/01/2017 15:05

Oops, wrong date - 2013.

Of course not all trusts will adopt the guidelines, but this is RCN recommended best practice.

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