To say BF Mums shouldn't be getting fed if...

[daydrinker]

IF FF Mums aren't?

My local hospital always feeds the BF mums but leaves the FF ones. They have to sort themselves out.

I've been to the local hospital a good few times now with DS and always asked within an hour if I want food

If overnight stay, I'm fed 3 times a day with biscuits and tea in between. Formula feeding mums aren't offered anything.

AIBU to say this isn't fair?

My milk supply doesn't all of a sudden vanish if I'm hungry.

I think that is awful, I know that it happens, surely they have to look after all mothers. Not many mums are going to want to leave their newborn baby to get food, what if you are stuck in a queue and your baby needs feeding on the ward.

??? I thought everyone who stayed in hospital was offered a meal? I've always breasted my babies but I had no idea that other patients weren't getting dinner? I'm confused now. You can't leave until you and baby are discharged. If I was expected to leave to go eat then I would leave to go home instead.

If this isn’t ‘fair’, why wouldn’t you be fighting for FF mums to be fed too?

Why would your go-to solution be that ALL women go unfed?

My DC were born in France where you stay in from 4-7 days post birth. I can't believe that anyone thinks this ok.

I'd disagree with how you have framed your AIBU. Isn't it not that BF mums should have this provision removed, but that FF parents should be included? It sounds pedantic but it shouldn't be a race to the bottom.

DS was in hospital for 2 weeks when tiny. I was breastfeeding and was given 3 meals a day. I managed to pump enough to go home and see my eldest and dp stayed with DS. They came in to take his order and said ‘oh we only feed Mum sorry’ and left, he didn’t want to leave DS as the cafe was the other side of the hospital and he was very very ill so ate nothing for almost 24hrs till I arrived.
It is wrong, If they’d have explained it first we would’ve bought food with us but when your baby is poorly the last thing on your mind is bringing dinner.

Its on paediatric wards. They will offer BF mums refreshments and not FF mums. Made me feel awful as a BF mum Tbh. The FF mums just starve themselves as they can't bear to leave a poorly child.

Oh I just re-read, it's not post-birth. I kind of understand that but no, visiting BFing mums shouldn't get fed if visiting formula feeding mums don't.

I would totally agree with feeding the ff Mums too. But what worries me is that the reaction to this would be "ok we'll take it away from eveeyone" rather than extending it.

The staying parent for kids up to about 4 should.get fed imo. But with someone keeping an eye that other family members don't come in and snaffle their food I guess.

My breast milk certainly dried up if I didn't eat and drink regularly

It is absolutely grotesque.

Il actually more shocked that there is not enough staff to keep a watch on the babies in their care while the parent goes to get a sandwich. Just how short-staffed is the NHS that they rely on parents to stay with a baby for every second of the day?!

I think that the idea is that ff mothers don't need to be on hand constantly whereas bf mothers do. Hence it would be unreasonable to expect bf to leave so that they can eat because they need to be present as a medical necessity. Ff mothers on the other hand don't need to stock around incase baby wants to eat so can be reasonably expected to feed themselves so that NHS money can be spent on patients.

How often did you test that Juells

It’s for mums who are accompanying their children, not when they are the patients. Anything that helps children in hospital should be encouraged. If feeding mums helps with supply (which it does) then why not offer food?

What?! Surely in hospital if you’re a patient on the ward then you get fed (albeit the food in our hospital is dire). I don’t understand this?

Thing is a BF baby doesn't have a more urgent need to eat than a FF baby. Poorly babies need to eat as soon as their hungry and there aren't nurses around ready to supply formula straight away. All little children need a parent with them at all times.

Wow this is pretty shocking tbh :(

So a breastfeeding mum can’t leave a hospital ward to get a sandwich now?

I wasn't able to when feeding my ill baby constantly. It would take about 30-40 minutes to walk to the shop, stand in the queue and walk back again. I couldn't express because she was feeding all the time so nobody else could feed her and I was alone for days at a time there so was I supposed to just starve.

When I was formula feeding her a few months later and we had another hospital stay I was able to nip out and grab some food for myself while someone watched her so didn't need to rely on the nhs to feed me.

Nothing to do with shaming anyone, it's just how it is. The NHS can't afford everything.

Sorry just read it’s visiting. Pretty weird policy. I’ve never heard of it.

Sorry, should have clarified!

I mean on the Paediatric wards

So if a parent goes to get a sandwich amd is delayed getting back to the ward and a tiny FF baby gets hungry in the meantime, that child will starve? Are you saying there are no Staff available to give it a bottle?

@Grandmaswagsbag they’re not talking about parents who are patients, it’s if the baby is hospitalised and Mum is with them. If Mum there with baby is breast feeding she will be fed, if she isn’t she won’t be

Buzz, different aged babies have very different feeding needs. My babies BF a lot less regularly at 6m than they did when they were readmitted at 2 weeks

What an ambiguous OP.