To ask about breastfeeding advice in the mid 80s

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I'm sure most would agree that there's a lot of advice/opinion/etc about breastfeeding out there now.

But on the back of a conversation with my aunt, aibu to ask MN what it was like in the mid 80s in most English hospitals so I can confirm some of her (surprising) statement s?

Was there much support on maternity wards for bf or was formula pushed?
We're the benefits of colostrum in particular known/reinforced?
Would mum's on wards be given bottles easily by midwives?
Would mum's have been given much of a sway between bottle formula Vs bf?
Were pumps available??
Etc

I had a baby in 1981, breastfeeding was heavily encouraged, take the babies away at night, I wish they had, no one on that ward got any sleep. Stayed in hospital 5 days

I had my first child in 1983; I wanted to BF and went to NCT classes where they were very encouraging. NHS antenatal classes too.

Stayed in hospital for 5 days after the birth and a lovely midwife helped with latching on .. my mum hadn't been able to breastfeed so I'd never seen it done and didn't realise how much of the breast you needed to get into the baby's mouth. This MW more or less held DD's jaw as wide as it would go and shoved her right on .. so much easier and more comfortable and I don't think I'd have worked it out for myself.
I enjoyed the five days on the maternity ward to be honest. Another fab MW grabbed SDH when he was visiting the first day and said "OK Daddy, you're going to learn how to bath your daughter" so he gave her her first bath and this really gave him confidence; that became his special thing and he did it every night. We were very young parents and a bit of support and encouragement was so helpful.

With DS1 I got out after three days, and DS2 after two, but that was to get back to the other children. I would never have wanted to give birth and go home the same day. In the 80s IME you were treated as if you'd done something special and you deserved a bit of looking after .. not such a bad thing!

I BF all three kids and was lucky it came fairly easily. More or less on demand, and I remember stuffing DS2 - very big baby - full several times in the late evening to fill him up for the night. Seemed to work.

DH not SDH

you just reminded me of something . My son , first born was born at 28 weeks . I expressed milk using a machine at home for 3 months and I used to be really pleased when I took some milk in - not realising that my meagre amount was very tiny (: . however I was encouraged to breast feed and when he came home I used to be able to feed at least once a day with formula for the rest and was very happy as it helped with bonding . When my second child was born I was encouraged to breast feed and I had lots of offers of help when it did not go to plan - turned out the baby had an undiagnosed tongue tie so it was very difficult - but again managed half and half . I was shocked recently to be told a mother had to make up their mind before leaving hospital? whats that all about ? And does not seem to be so much help if you need it today .

oh yes and in the prem ward they were fed breast milk and changed every 4 hours( when out of incubator) and then put down . A very rigid routine and my son was in that routine when he came home - it was great . he was a perfect baby .

I was chatting to my mum about this the other day.

Her - gave birth to me in 87. Straightforward delivery but she was in for 5 days being looked after, taught how to BF me and had a midwife who showed her positions etc. I wasn't taken away. Fed me for 6 months til she went back to work, then my younger brother for 2 years.

Me - DC is 6 months old. Traumatic delivery with forceps, complications from epidural etc. Zero help at all on the ward and discharged 12hrs after giving birth with a leaflet on breastfeeding. I was the only one in my bay of 6 BF and the midwives came round with a trolley like a tea trolley - "aptamil or cow and gate?". I said no thanks I plan to BF and she said "ah well I'll just leave one of each here anyway just in case".
All the support I got was via the NCT and friends with older babies.

I did my obstetric module as a student nurse in a central London hospital in 1988. Breast feeding was taught and encouraged, but formula was available. The hospital was given SMA free, and I remember a midwife remarking it was counterproductive.
There were Breast is Best posters everywhere, and MWs spent a lot of time with each woman positioning, teaching how to latch on etc.

DM breast fed me and DB over a year we were born in the mid eighties, she felt it was the norm although a lot of people used formula too. She did say the matron/sister/head midwife was an utter bitch about everything though and reduced a few younger mums to tears.

My DS was born in 1987. It was assumed by the midwives that I would breast feed and he was put to the breast within minutes of being born.

I had plenty of help on breast feeding from the midwives although they were less helpful when it came to my own state of health. When I complained of feeling odd I was told to just get on with it. It took me fainting in the middle of the ward when walking to the bathroom for them to actually take me seriously.

I was a midwife then and had three children in that time,we encouraged all Mothers to breastfeed,I fed all mine until they were over a year old.

Both my dc were born in the eighties breast is best was huge! We were strongly encouraged to breastfeed

Yes, both my children born mid eighties and that was my experience too. There was lots of help and encouragement. I can't relate to any of these stories of babies being fed bottles in the dead of night. Almost all my peers breastfed too. This was in the south east. Maybe different in different hospitals?