What milk can you take to hospital??

[Duemarch2021]

Due in march and am planning on breast feeding but im worried my milk will take longer to come in or she won't latch... I've heard you can only take a specific type of formula in? Im completely new to all of this and frankly don't have a clue what im doing but want to pack my maternity bag... i have bought aptamil ready to mix sachets which u mix with water in a bottle.. is this wrong??

Please, no. This is incorrect and potentially dangerous misinformation. My hospital physically do not store or provide formula. I’m not sure how many times to say this?

Of course they do, what do you think happens in SCBU and NICU? Let the babies arrest if the mother’s milk hasn’t come in, or she is in ICU herself and unable to see the baby? (DSIL wasn’t able to see her baby for two weeks, they didn’t just leave him to die)

It’s you who is providing dangerous misinformation.

I was planning to BF, had expressed a tiny bit of colostrum (frozen) as I had GD. DS was really early and then had a posterior tongue tie, he just couldn't latch and there was a 7 week wait in the NHS to have it snipped, he also had jaundice so we couldn't book straight in to have it done privately. The hospital gave me some of the little tiny bottles of formula (aptamil) and after much BF support showed me how to cup feed. He had to have those bottles in the end as I couldn't express and he needed to feed to get over the jaundice, DH was able to go to the supermarket and get more. We left hospital after a week and had his tongue tie fixed privately and I got him from formula, to mixed, back to BF , it was a bit tough but very glad I did. I was never able to express much but could do some, it actually meant he was ok with bottles despite being mainly BF and even the rare bottle of formula if I was very unwell (had severe tonsillitis and an infection when he was six months) . Essentially if your baby needs to be fed and you are physically unable as I was they will help you, and supermarkets after open 24 hours, please don't worry.

Don’t take any, you’ll be fine. You don’t buy a bus pass incase you can’t drive do you? You keep going and they’ll have so much support for you.

If you need or want it, they’ll give you some human or formula milk to bottle feed.

@BathroomHeadache you’re bloody amazing!!!!

Of course they do, what do you think happens in SCBU and NICU?

Exactly.

I’ve done many shifts in Neonantes and SCBU and shock horror, the ward has a massive stock of formula that we give to the babies if they are away from their mother and can’t breast feed, or the mother can’t express.

If the previous poster works in a hospital that will not give formula to babies in medical emergencies (or to premature babies as standard care) then it says a lot about the standard of care they provide.

I wouldn't take any. I'm due in march too and breastfed my twins so am pretty confident it'll go ok. But if it doesn't then the hospital will have formula. Those saying they don't - I do wonder what they think the NICU feed babies and how starving they think the hospital will let baby's get...

Go in armed with information (KellyMom has great breastfeeding advice) and confidence.

The most important thing about bf after birth is to have the first feed within 30 mins of birth - ideally put baby straight to nipple as soon as they’re born. It’s this initial feed that sets off the hormone production that stimulates your milk.

Milk coming in can take anywhere between 2-7 days, until then colostrum is incredibly rich, and newborns need around a teaspoon of it at every feed. That’s a tiny amount.

Read up on cluster feeding, good latch, feeding positions, have the number of a lactation specialist to hand.

I bf Dd and didn’t take any formula with me, but if it makes you feel more relaxed do take some. My hospital didn’t provide any formula unless baby was in SCBU/NICU.

I’m astounded at claims that some hospitals store zero milk.
What about the duty of care towards the patient?
There are a multitude of reasons why a mum is unable to bf including adoption.

Does this mean those mums have to feed them until baby is discharged?

@canigooutyet

I’m astounded at claims that some hospitals store zero milk. What about the duty of care towards the patient? There are a multitude of reasons why a mum is unable to bf including adoption.

Does this mean those mums have to feed them until baby is discharged?

No, you take your own milk in. Or they ask your partner/birth support to go and buy some.

The NHS, as is incredibly obvious now, is fucked. It can’t be responsible for paying for milk when there is a free alternative. And if a mum can’t/won’t breastfeed then it’s her responsibility to provide her baby food.

Oh I know how bad it is in hospitals. I mentioned already what has been removed from patients - the kitchen, hot water, TVs, bedside phones, toaster and more.

I am staggered that if mum is giving up baby she has to feed it. That is the implication from those saying zero milk is stored.
If this is the case that is cruel.
If mum is too ill to feed then what? Baby starves? Not all mums remember have a partner.
Plus at the moment visitors are banned!!

@Thehop

Don’t take any, you’ll be fine. You don’t buy a bus pass incase you can’t drive do you? You keep going and they’ll have so much support for you.

If you need or want it, they’ll give you some human or formula milk to bottle feed.

human milk isn’t given out to babies on postnatal wards just like that

It’s a precious and rare resource used to feed very ill or premature babies when their own mother can’t or doesn’t want to provide their own breast milk

@canigooutyet

Oh I know how bad it is in hospitals. I mentioned already what has been removed from patients - the kitchen, hot water, TVs, bedside phones, toaster and more.

I am staggered that if mum is giving up baby she has to feed it. That is the implication from those saying zero milk is stored.
If this is the case that is cruel.
If mum is too ill to feed then what? Baby starves? Not all mums remember have a partner.
Plus at the moment visitors are banned!!

Your point about mum being too ill to feed comes back to why people should be bringing their own milk in to hospital, not relying on the hospital to provide it