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!

@Chocaholic9

I also heard that breastfeeding can make you ravenously hungry because you need extra energy to do it. Eating an extra 500 calories per day is obviously not free either.

I was told the same when I didn’t have enough milk, I ate more and put weight on but it didn’t increase the amount of milk. I’m back to eating normal and have accepted that I occasionally have to add halve a bottle of formula.

It was free for me - but I'm one of those awful BF mothers that had no problems, no masistis, no let down issues, no problems basically, and BFd for 4 years. I guess I'm worthless

@kikisparks

No, not exclusive pumping, I suppose I was lucky that I didn't have many issues. Exclusive pumping is probably a bit less common and sounds like a lot of work. I get you though - buying secondhand needs to be done in advance, so there may not be time if it's sprung on you.

Anyway, there will be those that need lots of equipment but seems a lot of effort- whew!

I would agree that "free" is not strictly true, but it probably is less costly on average, longer term.
There will be some set up costs either way, and for some women establishing breastfeeding will involve significant expenditure. But for plenty of others it will be minimal. However everyone who formula feeds has to buy bottles, some form of sterilisation system and the milk itself (unless they are getting it on prescription) so it probably averages out as more costly.
I would think that the difference is more significant over time. Once you've got bf established there aren't many ongoing costs. Despite what the industry that has built up around breastfeeding says, most women don't need special diets, medication,/food supplements, specific clothes or equipment to breastfeed and the extreme hunger and thirst that can occur initially usually goes away after a while, so the "running costs" of longer term bf can certainly be close to zero. If you factor maternal time in as a cost I think that changes too. Formula feeding is probably less time consuming and "easier" for most mothers in the early days but as a baby gets older bf can be very time efficient.
Obviously there are always exceptions, but I'd hazard a guess that the average cost of breastfeeding for a year is less than the average cost of formula feeding for a year. That's not quite as catchy as "breastfeeding is free" though, so unlikely to make it into the promotional material!

@Shmithecat2

It was free for me - but I'm one of those awful BF mothers that had no problems, no masistis, no let down issues, no problems basically, and BFd for 4 years. I guess I'm worthless

Where have you got the idea from that you’re ‘awful’ and ‘worthless’ because you were able to breastfeed without trouble??

@nanaparker

breast feeding is free compared to the paraphanalia for bottle feeding! the fact that you need better help from a midwife than your currently getting has nothing to do with the benefits at all, you just need to be more assertive with the midwife. im guessing your not full time formula then? aldi £2 wouldnt last a week normally, be lucky if it was a day with my babies.

oh and finally im hardly "middle classed" i bottle feed my boys and breast feed my daughter, because that is what suited them best, but just because its gone so wrong for you doesnt mean that for plenty of others it would be of a benefit, maybe they just had better midwifery care?

I agree. I had to bottle feed my DS as I got thrush but my DD's were breast fed.

@TotalRhubarb

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

From this post.

I totally agree, OP. Well said.

Breastfeeding expenses
A) 2-3 bras cos didn't fancy hand me downs from local lovely hand me in maternity group.
B) tube lanisoh
C) cake

Negligible costs for me - Washable breast pads, lanolin cream, nursing bras. Had to buy more for subsequent children.

Free advice re breastfeeding via phonecalls to ABM.

No it's definitely not free! I was constantly ravenous which increased the food bill during all the breastfeeding years. Definitely expensive!!!!

[quote Shmithecat2]@TotalRhubarb

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

From this post.[/quote]
I don't understand. That's not the point I thought that poster was making.

That's interesting information around tongue tie by the way @mathanxiety
My children are grown up now, so I'm not really up to date with current advice on feeding, but there certainly do seem to be trends. When mine were babies it was thrush. If you looked at a site like this then, thrush was suggested as the cause for more or less every breastfeeding issue. There were pages written on the subject of optimal treatment regimes and masses of posts berating HCPs for their lack of knowledge on the subject and reluctance to prescribe antifungals. Now it's barely mentioned, but tongue tie and CMPA are the "go to" diagnoses. I see plenty of posts on here where I think "If you had been posting this in 2003 I can almost guarantee that the bulk of the replies would be telling you you'd got thrush, but now everyone is asking if a posterior tongue tie has been ruled out".
Not that I doubt these things exist. I have a son who has CMPA amongst other allergies in fact (and it might have been sorted a lot sooner had everyone we saw not been quite so fixated getting us onto fluconazole to treat our non existent thrush...) And of course I appreciate that science moves on and new things are discovered, but I'm sceptical of anything that is touted as "the answer" in this way - especially when people stand to make lots of money out of it!

Yes, there are fads, and not all of them are backed by science, as is clear from the BMJ article. An 870% increase in tongue tie procedures is shocking.

@TotalRhubarb, that poster is clearly worthless to the peddlers of breastfeeding accessories.

@mathanxiety

Yes, there are fads, and not all of them are backed by science, as is clear from the BMJ article. An 870% increase in tongue tie procedures is shocking.

@TotalRhubarb, that poster is clearly worthless to the peddlers of breastfeeding accessories.

I guess I was!

Wanted to bf my first. Really struggled with constant blocked duct, jaundice, refusal to latch, weight loss and no support. So we needed formula, bottles, steriliser plus the pump, breast pads, storage bags, nipple cream, nursing bras, ice packs and gel pads to fix my nipples. It cost a fortune and we still ended up formula feeding with cost £15 a week.
Luckily with number 2 despite having all if the same issues we at least had the kit. After being told there was no tongue tie 4 times we paid £250 to have it cut privately. I then bf for best part of 2 years.
First time round if I'd had access to support and consultants who actually knew what they were doing the problem could have been fixed (based on the same experience I'm sure DS1 also had a tongue tie) and cost me a lot less money.
I also had the benefit of being a but more clued in the second time and knew who to ask for help. Support for first timers is woeful.

@threatmatrix

I know, that's the irony. Breastfeeding only has become difficult but it's not discussed in wider society nor do we grow up seeing it. Women learned from other women, sisters, cousins, neighbours rather than highly paid consultants.

I learned from my friend what to do, I was fortunate her son was born 11 months before my eldest

I personally bf for 7 months. There was a little problem with supply at the start gave a bottle in the hospital (I was emergency c section so I think my body had to catch up) initial night nurse who latched baby onto my breast was visibly annoyed that I allowed a bottle but I was lying there unable to move and was just doing what I was told giving the bottle 😬 came home and got engorged and my phn milked me over the sink 🐄🤢 then it was pretty much smooth sailing. But as a single parent I was sorry I didn't have bottles to hand over to others for feeding and that is possibly why I was so done by 7 months! I asked on here to stop and all the responses were like why would you want to stop, your baby is so small. Im glad I did it for immunity etc. But I think the real issue is so much baby stuff is promoted as having to be brand new. Mattresses pumps etc. I was given a pump I hardly used as it was mostly me and bubs. This was fine cleaned throughly, but you seldom see second hand pumps etc. It really was cheaper for me but I did resent it towards the end. Needed to reclaim my body, which feels sad. If I had my dinner being prepared for me maybe I would have relished this time as connection. But we do the best with what we have 🤷‍♀️

A friend of mine constantly moaned about everything to do with the formula she was using (or rather her partner who did all the feeding) from day 1 with her DS. I told her not to use it then. She asked me what else she was supposed to do! I dont even think she knew breastfeeding exists. This Is probably who its aimed at

@planteen no worries, I knew nothing about exclusive pumping either until it became the only way I could feed my milk to my daughter. It isn’t common because it’s usually about 3x the work of formula or direct breastfeeding. I was really devastated not to be able to directly breastfeed and still feel sad about it now but I have done the best I can to feed my baby, I am very lucky to be in a position to afford the equipment needed though as formula would have been cheaper,

It was free for me the 2nd time. DD2 refused all bottles, cups and formula so only ever had my milk. BF until she was 20 months. It's the only milk she's ever drank

@threatmatrix

Is this real?? Jesus I can’t stop laughing. Spending all that money on something woman have been doing since the start of time.

Glad you find it funny. When you’ve stopped laughing have a little think about the many reasons babies don’t get breastfed and the many reasons women might have for not breastfeeding.

Here are a few.

Reasons babies don’t get breastfed:
Mother died in childbirth and baby is being formula fed by father.
Baby is ill in hospital and is being formula fed by nurses.
Baby is unable to feed and is being fed by drip.
Baby is being formula fed by adoptive parents.

Reasons women might have for not breastfeeding:
Mother has severe PND and is unable to feed or look after her baby for whatever reason.
Mother is seriously ill in hospital
Mother is undergoing chemotherapy or is taking other medication which prevents her from BF safely

[quote Shmithecat2]@TotalRhubarb

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

From this post.[/quote]
@Schmithecat2 I wrote that. You’ve missed the point completely. I’ve clarified in further posts if you’re interested.

And just to echo the poster who said they delayed their return to work for many months to continue ebf - same here. But hey, saved a ton of money because bf is free, right…

Sorry, habit. SHE deayed HER return to work!