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!

Not been a mother, but have wondered if it's so natural, why does it seem to be so hit and miss?

@JoanWilderbeast

Not been a mother, but have wondered if it's so natural, why does it seem to be so hit and miss?

I wonder this.

I come from a very large family, with around 25 births in current living memory if you see what I mean & all the babies have been successfully breastfed. That said on another thread, I realised the other day that all the babies bar 2 had been born vaginally, and those 2 were for breach.

Could there be genetics at play?

@JoanWilderbeast, it depends on the woman’s nipples and her ability to produce, it depends on the babies mouth. Then you need time.

I wish the midwives and health visitors had listened when I said DS2 couldn't suck properly and was exhausting himself before he was full. 4 months on the health visitor finally suggesting mixed feeding, DS2 gave up BF apart from at bedtime, and gave that up at 8 months. He's 14 now, and still can't drink out of sports caps.

@stairway no expensive bras here! I just had a 2 pack from Mothercare and some that a friend passed on! It was all the other costs that made BFIng expensive and a lot of those are incurred because it's often not as easy as made out.

Total cost of BFing for me: 2 nursing bras.

@TheLovelinessOfDemons

Total cost of BFing for me: 2 nursing bras.

No breast pads? Nipple cream?

@JoanWilderbeast

Not been a mother, but have wondered if it's so natural, why does it seem to be so hit and miss?

Because being able to BF very much depends on what happens with the birth (a CS, even a planned one, can delay milk, haemorrhage does, things like IV fluids in labour can, recovering from a difficult birth delays it because of shock, exhaustion etc). That milk delay can be a day or so or weeks.

It depends on the mother's health - thyroid problems, PCOS and diabetes are all known to cause low supply. There are other obvious ones like previous breast surgery, implants or insufficient glandular tissue.

Then the baby needs to be able to latch on effectively and very frequently in the early days especially. If they can't latch effectively (prem baby with tiny mouth, tongue tie, problem with nipple shape etc) that means they can't suck as effectively which means supply isn't stimulated as much = less milk. That also applies if the mum and baby are separated too much perhaps by needing to go to NICU, or by Covid rules or if the mum is very poorly after the birth.

So, lots of reasons, a lot of which are beyond your control.

I didn't need nipple cream. I had some nursing bras but I would need bras anyway. Breast pads - yes, but that was not a consideration when deciding to BF.

No nipple cream. Yes breast pads (I'd forgotten about those, last time I BFed was 8 years ago!).

Is breastfeeding less likely to be successful if you are overweight? Not trying to be offensive, a genuine question.

@Cheekypeach

Is breastfeeding less likely to be successful if you are overweight? Not trying to be offensive, a genuine question.

No. Can you think why it might?

I think this poster suggested this as a possibility because a few posters have mentioned diabetes/pcos/thyroid issues as a reason for not being able to successfully breastfeed. Those conditions are all linked to being overweight.

@Cheekypeach

Is breastfeeding less likely to be successful if you are overweight? Not trying to be offensive, a genuine question.

Here is some anecdata:

Im obese.
BFed DS1&2 without issue aslong as I held my enormous titty so that it didn’t suffocate them.

My obese boobs were enough 😀
HTH

I'm not sure the high mortality of babies in the early part of the last century is due to women struggling to breastfeed. Sure lots of babies deaths were documented as failure to thrive but in those days there were many many reasons why babies didn't thrive but I don't think women not being able to breastfeed was up there as a major cause. Lots of babies born with undiagnosed conditions/birth defects, babies conceived by malnourished mother's living in poverty which ultimately led to babies who would never be able to thrive no matter how they were fed.

What tosh one reads on here sometimes. Hypothyroidism may lead to a lowered metabolism; hyperthyroidism leads to a raised metabolism.

There is an increased risk of miscarriage.

I was hypothyroid (due to a sub-total thyroidectomy by the age 31). I was most certainly not an overweight expectant or new mother.

Thyroid issue, supply dropped when medication was too low, but fine when correctly dosed again. And loads of oats. Fenugreek recommended by midwife, clearly without skills or understanding of medical implications, that affects thyroid and therefore drops supply. Luckily pharmacist advised the contrary within days.

I don't see what weight would have to do with supply, but I don't think there's any impact, nor understand why there would be. Friends of all sizes breastfed. Hormonal impact of those illnesses can have multiple effects; weight gain and low supply, but the two effects are not inextricably linked.

I definitely needed nipple cream in the early days, but a little lansinoh went a very long way. Also amazing when you cut your leg shaving or on toddler grazed knees.

I breastfed successfully for years (2 dc 2 years apart, both ebf to 6 months then extended feeding past toddlerhood) but I think I would have struggled more to do this on lower income as I needed: a big bed for cosleeping; nursing tops/ nursing bras then new bras/ reuseable breast pads; lanisoh; extra food as I was burning more energy and hungry all the time; long maternity leave and time to sit and feed; supportive dh so I could rest when I could; supportive friends who were always understanding and non- judgemental when I needed to stop and feed dc; to carry a reuseable water bottle everywhere as I was always thirsty; a kindle to read when breastfeeding so I didn't focus on being bored two minutes in; a decent sling I could breastfeed wearing. Arguably I might have managed without some of these but I'm not 100% sure I would have managed for as long. It's hard work, I don't think it's appreciated by society for how much energy it takes.

Ah, there is a link

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17983998/

I’ve more responses than expected!
Just to address a few things- the lactation consultant was not some woo thing and I didn’t really have a choice- my choices were hire them or give up breastfeeding and take the advice given to me by midwives to switch to FF. I felt absolutely wracked with guilt and felt I needed to spend the money to give things a go.
I did try some free advice lines but found I couldn’t t get through and one I did get through to just suggested looking on websites- and I needed help urgently due to baby losing weight. I found advice on phone and online wasn’t helpful as it wasn’t specific to my baby and my boobs- however an experienced person seeing me feed immediately spotted the problem, and really minor adjustments have made a stonking difference.
I object to the suggestion that only a ‘teeny’ proportion of women struggle to BF and would again point to the statistics where the overwhelming majority of women who start BF give up by 8 weeks.
Anecdotally- every baby in my NCT group has had some formula and not one of the mums who are still breastfeeding have done this without a double electric pump.
I won’t expand too much on times gone by but I would suggest as PP have in days of old women would be surrounded by other women who had BF and could give advice.
Neither my mum or my MIL breastfed and told me to give the baby a bottle, HCP told me to give formula and made me feel like a shit mum that my baby wasn’t gaining weight, and did incessant weigh ins with lots of tutting and clucking. I imagine mothers in days of old weren’t subjected to all that!

I also think some posters are missing the point-
Clearly the cost is not free for everyone
And if indeed the cost doesn’t matter- why mention it on breastfeeding promotion at all!?
If you are aiming to improve BF rates then good quality support is surely what’s needed not posters in GP surgeries telling you how you could save a Bob or two?

Jerrui they mention the cost to try and encourage low income women to BF. It can be almost totally free for many women.

@Jerrui

I also think some posters are missing the point- Clearly the cost is not free for everyone And if indeed the cost doesn’t matter- why mention it on breastfeeding promotion at all!? If you are aiming to improve BF rates then good quality support is surely what’s needed not posters in GP surgeries telling you how you could save a Bob or two?

Women who struggled to breastfeed are entitled to feel unhappy, particularly if they didn't get enough support. The trouble is that you're arguing a point about money, but personally I have never seen those posters. The NHS stuff I saw was similar to this in content: www.nhs.uk/start4life/baby/feeding-your-baby/breastfeeding/, nothing about cost on that page nor in literature from the hospital breastfeeding class. Continued banging away about costs and difficulties, while dismissing those who say it wasn't bad for them, is starting to come across as wanting to put other new mothers off breastfeeding. That may not be your intention, but it is important to consider the impact of so many loose angry statements.

For ecample, it's ridiculous to imply that everyone needs a double pump just because your mates decided to buy them, I've never owned one and only knew one mum who had one. I was told not to pump in the initial weeks because that creates so much pressure around milk quantity when boobs simply don't give as much milk to a pump as to a baby. I only ever used a single pump to prep a few bottles for DH when I was going into work (mostly worked at home).

No one I know who BF owned a double electric pump - that seems pretty niche to me. I suspect I move in less wealthy circles - still breastfed fine.