To think it’s disingenuous to say breastfeeding is free?

[Jerrui]

When pregnant encountered lots and lots of breastfeeding promotion- often it’s cited it being free as a benefit.

I have personally found as soon as you actually have a baby and are feeding it there is absolutely zero support. In my area there is no infant feeding team etc just community midwife who told me to substitute BF with FF at two weeks old when baby failed to regain birth weight.

I have spent hundreds of pounds on lactation consultant, double electric pump, milk storage, trying to keep breastfeeding going.

I have added formula top up and was shocked how cheap it is. We got bottles for free in those Emma’s diary type packs, and Aldi formula costs £2 a week.

I think trying to promote breastfeeding as a more economic option to pregnant women is stupid.
I feel actually public funds would be much better spend on training and recruiting to provide actual support to mothers trying to breastfeed, rather than health promotion with misleading, simplistic and dumbed down messages.
I feel it’s no wonder breastfeeding is mainly the preserve of the middle classes when you have to invest so much money to get any help!

Financially, breastfeeding has cost me nothing. Guess I’ve been lucky with two sons who had no problems with feeding and I’m fortunate enough to not need to express for bottle feeding.

I didn't buy any paraphernalia when I breastfed mine, so in my case it WAS free. But as with everything, it's subjective.

@RobotValkyrie you can express for free (though it’s easier with a cheaper end pump) Many mother’s express or pump when the go back to work and don’t loose out on income. It would take time to express in evening or breaks but making formula takes time also but as you say maybe someone else can be paid to spend their time making up bottles at daycare/nursery.

I find it sad that women who do choose to take some form of maternity leave or spend time with their babies are now vilified just because it has fallen out of fashion.

Everyone has their own priorities, but in retirement are you going to have fonder memories of spending time with family or of working the extra hours for no usually no thanks and being overlooked for promotion regardless because the workforce is inherently sexist.

My experience was not free but that because I spent more on cake and yummy food as I was starving constantly 😂😂

I bf two of mine, didn't pump ever, and the only thing I invested in, in the very early days was lansinoh. So it was free for me. First child couldn't bf, needed special formula, plus loads of different bottles and other stuff, cost a fortune.

Breastfeeding is free, in and of itself. Accessories are a different thing and most don't pay consultants.

How did women in years past manage to breastfeed without lactation consultants and all the other feeding experts who have sprung up in recent years? With the correct support in place there would be no need for them now. So as others have said, breastfeeding is free. Any expense is only incurred when desperate mothers who are not being helped understandably take up the costly option to get guidance from breastfeeding experts.

You can spend as little or as much as you choose on a baby. My friend works as a night nanny and charges an eye watering amount to get up and deal with other people’s babies. She also offers cranial osteopathy for babies who can’t sleep and charges a fortune. None of those services are really necessary.

Well I agree to an extent, for some women breastfeeding can be really easy and require no extras and support should be uniformly and widely available. Having said that I couldn't breastfeed so I had to invest in a sterliser, bottles, etc and my baby was taking 2 boxes of formula a week before he was switched to cows milk. A box of formula was £8. So not cheap. I don't think pitching breastfeeding vs formula is great, there should be proper feeding help for both and obviously breastfeeding may then require additional support with latching etc but often babies are colicky, have digestion issues, reflux and a feeding specalist should be able to help with those.

I saw something on twitter this morning that said ' breastfeeding is only free if you think a woman's time, bodies and care work is worthless.

It will vary so much from person to person.

I know I was very lucky. My son latched immediately. Never had any issues. I never pumped so never needed any of that stuff. My nipples were never sore so I never needed cream.

I bought some cheap primark nursing bras as my breasts are small so I didn't need much support and my breasts never leaked so I didn't even need breast pads although I did buy reusable ones when I was pregnant. So probably cost me £20 total doe 15 months of feeding.

However, I am a midwife so I have seen how much can be spent on it and the difficulty that can arise from that. I am sorry you never got the support you needed. I have never used breastfeeding is free to encourage a women to breastfeed. The people that really matters to are more than likely going to get healthy start vouchers to assist with the costs of formula and from experience people will not want to breastfeed for cost purposes. Most will do it for the benefits of breastfeeding. Someone who is intent on formula feeding will formula feed regardless of the price, but may change their mind when the benefits of breastfeeding is explained to them.

I’m still bf my 2.4 year old and apart from having to buy nursing bras every 5 months or so, it has not cost us a penny.
No pumps/bottles/consultants etc.

I found the comment a pp made about ‘bf only being free if the mothers time meant nothing’ very sad - I have never once looked at it in that way, maybe I am fortunate in that it’s been easy for us, it’s such a lovely thing to do, for bonding, for comforting, for being on the go, it’s undoubtedly saved us money.

I’m very pro bf, but I’m not going to turn this into a bf v ff debate , as that’s what often happens on here. We can celebrate one without bashing the other. As long as baby and mother are happy - that’s more important.

Wow, I think you were very unlucky OP.

Breastfeeding was free for me 🤷‍♀️ I never pumped or had any bottles or hired a consultant… Just a baby permanently latched on 🤣 I ate a LOT of fatty cheese and chocolate I suppose but that was the only cost.

And although I never used them, in my area there are free drop in breastfeeding support clinics, plus I know there is free support from La Leche league charity and some other bf helplines… I did call one once and they very helpfully suggested pressing an electric toothbrush into my armpit to break up a blocked duct, which seemed to work.

So anyway I dunno our experiences sem to have been very different.

I was pretty lucky with breastfeeding and it was straightforward and painless for me, I didn't need extra support (although I think in my area they do have a team which can help). We did invest in a pump, bottles and steriliser, as we wanted DH to do some night feeds but in the end our DD had other ideas and preferred the breast. I wasn't working when I got pregnant and have been a sahm since DD was born, so no loss of earnings.

I think it very much depends on your experience. I went to breast feeding ante natal classes abd cane away convinced I'd never manage it. I think they were trying gbto cover all bases, but I had the overriding impression that is NOT easy, so many women have problems, etc. I went out abd bought bottles abd formula, having previously been sure I would EBF.

As it happened, it was easy. In a sense. No one had prepared me for how time consuming it could be. Ds1 fed ALL.THE.TIME. refused a bottle. It was relentless. Ds2 totally different

I kniw I'm lucky that it was relatively easy though and am grateful for it

How did women in years past manage to breastfeed without lactation consultants and all the other feeding experts who have sprung up in recent years?

If women/baby had breastfeeding issues it came under the general umbrella of ‘failure to thrive’. In more recent history women/babies who were impacted turned to formula so the baby survived. In the more distant past the baby just died basically or if wealthy there may have been capacity for a form of wet nurse, or they turned to things like unpasteurised goats milk and hoped the best.

people frequently ignore the labour involved.

^^
This is very true!

Also I strongly agree with you, that not enough money is spent promoting breast feeding. If it really has all the benefits it is said to have, when pressure is being put on women, then it must worth while to provide be the support. I think it’s got worse since I had my first in 2008.

Also it isn’t free because you need to buy more food for yourself in order to support it - it’s dangerous to bf without consuming extra calories.

@DropYourSword you must be in the US. I'm impressed you were committed enough to spend 2000 USD on trying to establish BF but also horrified. I had an emergency CS and my milk didn't come in for a week; luckily/unluckily I was in hospital with minor complications for five days following so got some encouragement from ward based BF specialists (free obvs). Once home, I bought a pump and reusable breast pads. It was awful to begin with - my nipples were so raw my son threw up pink vomit from the blood. But glad I persisted because I witnessed from my friends the faff of sterilising equipment, warming the milk, buying formula and carting it about and was so glad that I could just whip a boob out whenever. So expense is a minor consideration, the convenience is something else entirely and that depends on your situation.

@EmiliaAirheart

I’ve also heard: breastfeeding is only free if a woman’s time is worth nothing.

So bloody right! It might be worth it but it is not free!!

Also not free: walking past a cake stall when breastfeeding.

Also it isn’t free because you need to buy more food for yourself in order to support it - it’s dangerous to bf without consuming extra calories.

I don't think the expense of extra food is a concern. I have done extended bf-ing for 2 dcs who vehemently preferred the breast over the bottle. I don't recall my food intake being very different at all throughout. If anything, I was trying to lose weight.

On an individual scale for some women it is free if the process runs well, no support is required and no pumps etc are bought. I do think we should talk more about the fact that this all assumes a woman's time has no financial value. Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended until the age of 2. Clearly this will have job/career impact for many women in the moment but also for the future. On a macro scale, I just don't think it can be considered free as many women require more support and for whatever reason return to the workplace which may or may not be compatible with breastfeeding. Breastfeeding success truly does take a village. Until governments value the this and put proper support in place with REAL education rather than the over-simplified half truths that are perpetuted in lazy campaigns it will still be massively over-represented by middle class women with resources of all kinds to support them.

It was free in the 80's when I had DS and I didn't need any support because I was an ignorant 21 year old and basically flew by instinct which seemed to work. I didn't bother with pumps or storage it was just baby to breast and that was it.
When I switched to bottle after going back to work it cost me a small fortune, I really had a panic. No cheap milk in those days. Sterilisation was just milton and plastic bowl.

Yes, it cost me a fortune!! I had excellent support but unfortunately had very low milk supply (confirmed by numerous lactation specialists). I bought a pump, then rented a hospital grade pump, lots on nipple creams as either baby or pump seemed attached to my breast at all times. Had to buy new clothes to breastfeed out of the house as all I owned were very high necked dresses. I spent over £300 on pumping alone!! As I had to top up with formula anyway due to supply (to be fair, they did tell me early on that I wouldn’t be able to ebf due to my supply, but I persevered as much as possible), it’s eye watering how much I spent and how much work I had to put in to continue to combi feed. I wouldn’t want to put myself through that again. I think it’s only free if you can do it and supply allows, and you’re happy to do all the feeding.

I've come to this thread after 10 pages so this has probably been covered, but breastfeeding been a huge expense for me, plus I've had to do formula feeding too.
I have hypoplasia and pretty sure IGT too, so I have spent £££ on supplements, SNS feeding thing, and various pumps to get breastfeeding established. It never was going to get established, but I was determined and stubborn. We had to end up using formula anyway in the end, so all that money was spent and then more on bottles, sterliser and formula. I'm glad I tried, but so frustrating that it costs so much.
I'd have loved to be one of those women who could just do it, and do it for free.

I can't figure out how to quote on the app but just to answer a couple of things I've seen -

• extra food costing more...um, no. I know that some women lose weight bfing but I am one of many who hold onto and even gain weight. I'm eating the exact same I ate pre-pregnancy and have an abundant supply. No need for extra food!

• what did people do historically - apart from what others have already said, the experts were the experienced mothers. The ones who nursed 5, 6, 10 of their own babies. The grandmothers who'd fed several kids of their own and then supported their daughters/neices / younger friends to bf. You didn't need to pay to see them - they probably lived with you, or very close by. Community breastfeeding- if mum was struggling and baby was hungry, a friend or sister could breast feed. This still happens in other countries where formula isn't really feasible or widely available. You can lactate for years - even if your kids are weaned, if you keep breastfeeding, the milk keeps coming. This is/was very useful to support new mums and babies in the community. When everyone breastfeeds, everyone can pitch in and help.

Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended until the age of 2. Clearly this will have job/career impact for many women in the moment but also for the future.

I don't think this is a real concern. I took the one year maternity and did extended bf-ing for both dcs. I doubt if many women if any are exclusively bf-ing after a year. Most would already have moved to cows milk after one, and bf-ing the baby for comfort, not nutrition. I bf-ed them to sleep and for naps.