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?

The same person who looks after the baby when the mother goes to the toilet or for a wash, I expect?

When I was in hospital after my c section the lady in the bed next door to me had no one. She was foreign, no family in this country and Dad wasn't in the picture. She has no one to get food for her. Our hospital fed us though so it wasn't an issue.

I was fortunate enough to have somebody bring an actual menu to me to order lunch!
I'm not very surprised. I agree with you, but not just for breastfeeding mothers.

How does it work that you use the canteen? Is it exclusively for patients? I peeked into the canteen I was passing in a hospital I was visiting and it had a mix of what looked like workers and people in dressing gowns queuing up to be served. I wouldn't much fancy that scenario. Though I may have it wrong.

I do think it's depressing that because of that, people all over Mumsnet (& the rest of Britain) are constantly being told it's the patients who are the problem

100% this.

The NHS should be feeding new mothers (breastfeeding or not btw, that part is irrelevant). That it doesn't have the funds to do so is terrible.

Yes they should and some inc the one I work in does.

I get the argument that the NHS is on its knees and why should they, etc. But as the OP pointed out the canteen is open funny hours. Plus if baby Is bf she needs to stay near the baby. She can't stay too long at a canteen, she can't pop out to McDonald's, she can't go home for dinner.

Plus the NHS aren't spending money on formula for the baby if mum is bf and knowing how much the NHS spend on patient food I would guess a bottle of formula costs more than an adult meal!

So the taxpayer should pay for meals for parents and relatives of very sick adults and children along with the car parking and travelling, nappies etc?

'Symbiotic'? Wtf? So a sick child crying and clingy to its mother doesn't count as they are not taking sustenance from the breast?

Never heard so much BS in my life.

My ward feeds breastfeeding mums if the baby is under 6 months.

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 was on a children's ward when breastfeeding DS1 18 years ago and I was offered the children's food - what he wasn't eating! I didn't get to choose an adult's menu but got fishfingers and soggy chips, and cornflakes for breakfast. Mostly we relied on microwaveable meals cooked in the parents' kitchen.

Posted too soon. We also feed bottle feeding mums as it was felt it wasn't fair on mums who didn't/couldn't breast feed.

We also provide formula and nappies if needed.

I worry as many mums don't have the support I do and would struggle. it's hard to leave your screaming poorly baby with a stranger.
as I said on the other accidental thread I made they could sell off the massive food wasted on the other wards and make some NHS funding.
it's such a stressful time but surely mums being regularly hydrated and fed a nutrition meal will help babies ti get better.
I know the NHS is on its knees but it's hard for parents who literally can't leave their kids.

Yy to the 'race to the bottom' stuff.

Also, how much would it cost for all the extra health care assistants to 'keep an eye' while these hour-long trips to the canteen are happening?

when I had my daughter in 1995, she was 8 weeks prem but managed to breast feed, they kept her in for 3 weeks and let me sleep in a room that the staff used on a sofa bed, they fed me the whole time and were wonderfully supportive as she fed every 2 hours, in fact she was allowed to sleep with me once her jaundice was resolved. Her only issue was her weight (she weighed 3 pounds 10 oz. But the NHS has changed since then.

Bip Not to get in the way of your ranting, but the NHS is underfunded - it can't pay for treatment for everyone who needs it.

Adding to that burden by having to feed parents/carers, most of whom would be capable of making arrangements for themselves, is taking the piss.

And presumably all bf mums would be given food, regardless of circumstances and being able to afford it/having friends, family etc who can drop a couple of days' worth of food in...

My local hospital feeds bf mums. I did feel like I was taking the piss slightly when he was nearly 3 grin. However I was on my own there as dh was home with the other children so I kind of wanted food.

I am not able to get treatment for my MH problems on the NHS so no, I don't think they should be chucking money around like that.

Only read first two pages. I was provided with food when dd was in neonatal ITU. I was told this was because I was expressing. After the second day it became clear I wouldn't be feeding her, so the food stopped. We managed to get breakfast a couple of times from the canteen but mainly didn't bother much with food.

Honestly, when your child is so ill, feeding yourself is way down the list of things you are focusing on. By providing a meal for a breastfeeding woman the NHS are providing the best possible care for the baby.

There's no need for rudeness or biscuits on this thread, bit of compassion for people who have been/are in a horrible situation wouldn't go amiss.

Did you ask for a sandwich OP?

A very relevant question you don't answer.

Are all breastfeeding mothers NOT taxpayers then?
I'm a bit fed up of this spiteful diatribe. Lots of parents pay tax.
Even though I don't feel food should be given to parents, I do think some of you are under estimating how much money parents being on the ward SAVES the nhs too! The nursing staff wouldn't be able to cope with parent care involvement. They certainly wouldn't be able to with my daughter for example.

I'm sorry you're baby is having tests. I'm not sure i understand your logic that your baby would get better faster if you got free food? 🤔

Bit of a rant there myself

Anyone wanting hospitals to do this should perhaps get on and organise something. It's sure as shit not going to happen from NHS funds

The NHS should be feeding new mothers (breastfeeding or not btw, that part is irrelevant).

Yes, when that mother is a patient. Not when she isn't.

I know the NHS is on its knees but it's hard for parents who literally can't leave their kids

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.

With out parent care involvement. They rely heavily on parents being involved.

Let's turn this on its head. In the good old days mothers couldn't stay with their children. Perhaps mothers of babes, breast ir formula fed, should go home outside of visiting hours and let the nursing staff take full responsibility for nursing and caring for their children. The BHS would be in a,state then. Same for all the rellys who act as patient advocates, drivers. Help feed the elderly and do their laundry.

The mother is providing all food & drink for their baby via their own body. As the NHS isn't having to directly provide their patient with nutrients, it's given to the breastfeeding mother in lieu. Not sure why this is deemed wasteful by some? It's cheaper to provide a mother with ward food rather than providing formula for the baby.

Most trusts feed exclusively breastfeeding mothers of in-patient babies.

My baby has just been discharged from hospital and I was given free formula for him as stopped breastfeeding also unlimited free nappies.
Before anyone is in uproar that I didn't provide nappies ds was admitted as an emergency patient.
Then due to the antibiotics causing diorhea (sp) he was going through two nappies an hour. I did manage to get to the hospital shop during a brief nap to purchase some however they only sold new born and my ds is 20 months. We did arrange for nappies to be brought in the following day.
I wonder if the posterswho think it's easy to buy food have every sat by the bedside of a seriously ill baby. Even when I was an inpatient and my twins were in scbu it was hard enough to eat as meals were dumped back at the ward with no warning.