Hospital should feed breastfeeding mums?

[NurseRosie]

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?

Our local hospital has a policy to feed bf mums of babies 6months or less. I agree that they should and have personally benefited. If you have a seriously unwell baby the last thing you want is their sole source of food living off a vending machine because they can't get out of the hospital long enough to get food. It's horrible and draining when your baby is unwell.

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.

She's not 'resident'.

I'm sure leaving patients in corridors isn't good practise but the NHS does it's best.

Wonder what the best practise is for non breastfeeding mothers with sick children or do they just not matter?

She's not 'resident'.

She is as deemed to be by the fact of being with her young baby. The full document is below if you don't believe me. It's title is Breastfeeding in CHILDREN'S wards and departments

www2.rcn.org.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/270161/003544.pdf

If you don't like the NHS feeding nursing mothers then make a complaint. Jesus. The attitudes here!

I was fed when ds2 was very poorly and in hospital for a week when he was 6 months old. I didn't ask but when the lady with the tea trolley came around and saw me breastfeeding she added me to the meal list.

The nurses treat me like a freak though. I live in an area with very low breastfeeding rates and they couldn't believe that ds2 was exclusively breastfed at such a grand old age and made a lot of odd comments about it.

I'm about as robust as you get so it didn't bother me too much but it was clear the breastfeeding friendly policies didn't extend past box ticking.

They didn't even feed the patients when my DM was in hospital. I used to take food in for her when I could, and nag them. They said she probably had no appetite (even though she asked for food repeatedly), and they wouldn't give her anything all day.

I live in dread of ever being ill enough to be in hospital - if you don't have relatives to stick up for you and bring you food and drink, you could easily starve (and I believe there have been cases of this...).

So fwiw, I think the NHS needs to focus on adequate patient care, and friends and relatives need to fend for themselves (and possibly for the patient, too).

Wonder what the best practise is for non breastfeeding mothers with sick children or do they just not matter?

Non-breastfeeding mothers of sick babies don't require feeding :)

It's a guide. Pie in the sky to expect staff to be catering to non-patients. And here is what happens when you do: 'Dear, are you getting adequate snacks? May I fetch you a tea?' 'Oh, I don't like tea, no. I need a latte with vegan whitener.' 'I don't consider a cheese and pickle sandwich adequate nutrition. I need a gluten, dairy-free vegan lunch bowl.'

There's already a reference in the OP to there not being 'hot' food. Food doesn't need to be hot to be nutritious.

Well not by the NHS anyway

If you don't like the NHS feeding nursing mothers then make a complaint. Jesus. The attitudes here!

I think it's fine for the NHS to feed nursing mothers. What I don't think is fine is nursing mothers to feel that they should be a higher priority than other mothers or fathers having babies in hospital. It seems extremely unlikely that the OP has so little opportunity to feed herself that her baby's nutrition is actually compromised.

Non-breastfeeding mothers of sick babies don't require feeding

What does this mean?

Actually I think we should all pay more taxes if it would lead to a massive improvement in public services. But that isn't a popular opinion

I'm with you.

After living in the UK and seeing the exhausted (but wonderful) staff try to make a penny stretch for miles I'll take my high taxes and very un-American-priced mandatory health insurance thanks.

I'm horrified by a system that is so far stretched that we can't even afford compassion for a mother of a tiny baby in hospital who doesn't want to leave him and may not have the mental or physical resources right now to plan hot meal deliveries.

I was a non-patient on the wards here in Holland 24 hours a day for a week. There was not a single mealtime when I wasn't included, the coffee/tea/biscuits were free for all visitors, and I often wept at the kindness shown by the staff when a little cupcake or something would appear at my elbow in the wee small hours of the morning when I was watching over my daughter.

"You should pack sandwiches." Fucking hell.

It's a guide. Pie in the sky to expect staff to be catering to non-patients

It's not pie in the sky. It's best practice. Which all trusts will try to achieve as much as they can.

What about all the many posters who have said they WERE fed as mothers of breastfeeding babies? Are they making it up? It's not an unreasonable thing at all for the OP to be hoping for.

Actually I think we should all pay more taxes if it would lead to a massive improvement in public services. But that isn't a popular opinion

We pay enough, thanks anyway.

'"You should pack sandwiches." Fucking hell.'

If you know you're going in, why is this so astonishing? They might not have food you like or that your child likes if he/she is old enough to eat.

You literally can leave your kid though. You just don't want to, and when you do you don't want to eat cold food

I spend a lot of time in hospital with one of my kids, it's not a choice to not leave your child.
The staff get ever so shitty if you leave young children

What about all the many posters who have said they WERE fed as mothers of breastfeeding babies? Are they making it up? It's not an unreasonable thing at all for the OP to be hoping for.

What are you on about? I'm sure wherever possible, the staff will try to feed breastfeeding mothers. Where they can't, they don't. Maybe they even avoid difficult, entitled people who haven't been gracious when offered a snack previously.

Proving someone was fed doesn't mean anything here.

Well then breast feeding mothers don't require feeding.

You body doesn't shut down if you have to wait a while to eat.

No they shouldn't fed the mother.

The child is the one in hospital not her. If she wishes to continue breastfeeding then she should bring in her own meals or pop to the cafe and spend her cash like every other non admitted person.

Just because you are able to breastfeed a sick child in hospital doesn't make you the special snowflake. Just makes you lucky your child CAN breastfeed when poorly and in hospital.

A lot of babies are too sick to be breast or bottle fed, poor little mites.

*Non-breastfeeding mothers of sick babies don't require feeding

What does this mean?*

Someone asked what do non-breastfeeding mothers get. This was my response.

'It's not pie in the sky. It's best practice. Which all trusts will try to achieve as much as they can. '

And everyone knows it's not entirely possible most of the time.

Taking some responsibility for yourself as an adult seems to be a lot to hope for.

NeedsAsockamnesty Yes it is. Especially when the kid is asleep for hours.

Given how dire NHS food is in to be spared it is a blessing. I would be bringing in all my real whole foods. I can't eat NHS junk.

expat I'm reading your posts as angry. I have no idea if that's correct. If not, then I've misread you, sorry.

I am sorry that you had the opportunity to gain that experience. And yes, I imagine that with a child in long term, you do figure out that you need to look after yourself in order to function and that means leaving your child's side occasionally.

I was pretty slow to figure that out when DS was admitted (emergency, then kept in for a week, so not long) last year - I basically waited until DP was there or DS was finally asleep before peeing. In hindsight, that was probably unnecessary, but at the time, esp after a couple of sleepless nights before emergency admission, I wasn't exactly at my brightest and most logical. Plus I was afraid he'd tear his drip out trying to follow me (the drips that took three people holding him down to get a line in each time) and he wasn't old enough to understand what was happening or be reasonable about it.

So I know what I have done and it wasn't that different from the OP. It wasn't the best way of dealing with the situation but who is always at their best?

I was given all meals during our recent ish stay on the children's ward. Initially I just chose for DS but the meal lady noticed I was breastfeeding and brought me menus too! It was much appreciated.