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!

@EmiliaAirheart

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

What a totally depressing materialistic view of life. So everything should have a monetary value should it? What an awful world.

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

Yes, because FF babies can prepare, make and wash their own bottles. What an absolutely stupid comment.

When breastfeeding doesn't work, whether that's because it becomes costly to resolve, or whether there's no support, it's not the fault of the mother.

It's a woeful systematic let down.

Breastfeeding is free, being able to breastfeed isn't.

It being "free" is not the reason most people choose to pursue it though.

I know Mumsnet likes to downplay the benefits of breastfeeding, but to some people those benefits are really important to them.

Services that should be offered on the NHS like lactation consultation are privatised because the NHS hardly see it as a necessity.

The cost of fixing breastfeeding issues unfortunately at the moment outweighs the benefits of breastfeeding.

It's a broken system, and it leaves new mums feeling guilty, like failures, like they haven't done enough, grieving this preconceived notion of their perfect first few years and it's largely out of their hands! It's awful, and I really feel for those mother's.

I'm fortunate to live in an area that's had its 10 year UNICEF baby friendly accreditation and offers community support for breastfeeding but LA across the country have cut funding for it and peer support is not offered in lots of areas so the windows where common breastfeeding issues could be caught and resolved is being missed.

Nothing in life is free, but support to do a human bodily function should be realistic and achievable. Sadly, for a growing number, it's not.

It was free for me - never needed any special help, never pumped, never gave bottles. Totally free.

@EmiliaAirheart

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

What else should the mother of a newborn be doing with her time?

Breastfeeding was free for me x2. I was a SAHM and really skint, so I bought none of the bras, clothes or paraphernalia that people have now.

In those days, mothers and babies stayed in hospital a lot longer, around ten days, and the nurses worked to help those of us that were BF get it well established and things like bathing and nappy changing.
So I went home reasonably confident with BF, etc.

Breastfeeding was free to me but I switched to formula at 3 months with my first as my DS just stopped and turned away. I wish I had found a way to continue. My DD breast fed until nearly 2. We didn't have as much money when we had DS and we certainly noticed how much more it was to FF compared to say more cake!

I don't know how you can put a monetary spin on it - maybe i have unusual maternal instinct but it is no way valueless

@youngstreet so I could go for keep in touch days with work, to the shops for a couple hours on my own occasionally. Or even out for dinner with my husband. She just cried and waited until I got back which was awful and why we didn't do it until she was much older (almost 1)

Bottle feeding is not cheap if it's you're only option. Lots of bottles coz you're too tired to keep washing up and sterilising every 2/3/4 hours. Tubs of formula £9-£10 a pop. If your baby is hungry or needs different milk that's about £50 plus a month. Decent sterilisers are cheap. If your on a low income and can't breast feed it's expensive and undrunk formula can't be kept or frozen

@EmiliaAirheart

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

Just about to say this very thing.

I value time and contentment over money.
I was a very happy bottle feeder and my DC were very content little babies. Worked very well all round and wouldn’t change a thing.

I struggled with breastfeeding for the first few months of DDs life. Struggles with latching, a preference for only one boob and three bouts of mastitis. Other than buying formula and bottles to top up if I felt she wasn't getting enough I didn't spend any other money on "specialists" and point blank refused to spend extortionate money on an electronic pump.
I also had little/no support. None of my friends had children and I live in a rural area and don't drive so even if their was breastfeeding support I was unable to access it. I agree more needs to be spent in supporting new mums, especially since the hospital tends to favour breastfeeding over formula.
In the end I cracked it through the support of others on MN and YouTube videos made by mums, and pure blood, sweat and tears.
It was a right slog but we eventually got it and she was breastfed until about 14 months old.
I am not middle class, in any way shape or form. 😊

Think if it goes well it is a lot cheaper than bottle feeding.... We have no Aldi in NI and I have never found formula to be cheap..at least £10 / week . Think its not a very helpful narrative for choosing to.breastfeed though and of course the support is non existent in many areas.

@LimeSegment

Totally agree OP, breastfeeding is like anything, you can spend as much as you want. Some bfers end up with a pump (even 2-3 pumps if the first one doesn't suit), full set of bottles, nursing bras and clothes, lactation consultant, extra food, etc, etc).

In addition, some pro bf threads on here go on about how formula feeding/formula is so so expensive as a deterrant. That just isn't true, it's quite cheap compared to other foods. £5-10 to feed one human for a week! It's by far the least you will spend on your kids food for the next 18 years.

Don't get me wrong, I love bf and fully support it, but it's promotion should be based on science, not on half truths someone thinks will appeal to women. Also see - "bf will make you lose weight".

I agree with this.

I think BF can be free. But reality is that it's not likely to be totally free.

For DS1 I FF from birth and all I spent is £25 on bottle set and then it's £10 per week for formula (could get cheaper if got Aldi own but we prefer Hipp which is £10). That was at the height of milk intake. Now on solids it's less as we don't even get through a box a week. Yes, that's more than Bf so FF is likely more expensive overall - but it's not the massively, exaggerated expensive outlay that my antenatal classes seemed to suggest!

I think what people sometimes overlook too is the cost of clothing. Many end up having to spend on button down shirts etc as their original wardrobe might not have enough Bf friendly clothes.

DietrichandDiMaggio
Other than feed 24/7?
I can think of many things!

But presumably somebody is going to feed the baby? And sterilising bottles, making fresh formula each feed with hot water, cooling it,( as per guidelines) and feeding isn’t going to take less time, once baby has got the hang of breastfeeding. I admit I did sometimes wish someone else could feed baby, but it would have used their time as much as mine.

@UpDownRound

Unless all the women who breastfed and are saying its free had massive amounts of weight to lose or ended up underweight, it literally cannot have been free. Food costs money. You need to eat more when you are breastfeeding. Breast milk takes extra calories to produce - this cannot be disputed.

I'm not saying it's not cheaper than ff but it cannot be true that it is free!

You just have to eat properly -maybe an extra 3-400 calories when fully breastfeeding- so hardly a major expense.

It's a bit simplistic to say free though I'd assume the average cost of EBF is going to be less than the average cost of EFF. There's such a wide range of experiences though and I don't think we get realistic information on breastfeeding antenatally, it's very best case scenario.

@Mustreadabook

But presumably somebody is going to feed the baby? And sterilising bottles, making fresh formula each feed with hot water, cooling it,( as per guidelines) and feeding isn’t going to take less time, once baby has got the hang of breastfeeding. I admit I did sometimes wish someone else could feed baby, but it would have used their time as much as mine.

Bottle prepping, cleaning, feeding can be a shared job. Definitely takes the pressure off the woman when both parents take responsibility.

Sorry to hear you haven’t had support but you are talking shite. I breastfed 1 DC and bottle fed the other and there’s a very obvious cost difference.

[quote NumberTheory]@Mrbob
EmiliaAirheart

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

That’s a pretty depressing view of your child

It has nothing to do with how anyone views any children. It simply points out, as with so much that women do, that people frequently ignore the labour involved.[/quote]
Well, if you're going to count the cost of untiring your child (whether that breast feeding/bottle feeding - you still need to hold the bottle while they feed, nappy changing or cuddles) you probably should have children.

I guess it can be free if you’re one of those people who has no issues whatsoever.

I was very lucky to have a supportive counsellor, for free, through the Association of Breastfeeding Mothers. I showed my gratitude by being a volunteer counsellor myself, for eleven years.

The ABM are unconscionable now, as they use the term 'chestfeeding' - anti-woman nonsense - but the principle holds true that if women support each other breastfeeding is usually possible, usually rewarding and usually inexpensive.

My eldest is 27. I tried very hard to breastfeed. I had 4 community midwives who all gave different advice. The worst being camillosan is totally natural, nothing in it can cause harm. My only allergy in my notes is lanolin! Guess what.

I had mastitis day 10 - hopeless advice from the emergency number. "Oh don't worry if you have flu, your baby will have antibodies." Because of course I had fever, shivers, aches and pains and felt generally very unwell. The big red patch on my breast was underneath only until 6pm as the GP was closing and refused to help. Emergency Dr arrived at 9pm and told me to feed 10 minutes each side every 4 hours.

Midwives were nonchalant, hv was hopeless and knew nothing about bf. Funnily midwives and hv had a very hard mantra that bf was best and the only option.

My breasts were so painful after feeding I could barely move for an hour afterwards. NCT told me to take paracetamol to take the edge off before a feed and recommended a mechanical/industrial breast pump to give the nipples a rest.

At 5 weeks I had mastitis again, at 8 weeks a breast abscess. Nobody would give me permission to bottle feed and I couldn't bring myself to due to the mantra. The 9nly oerson who told me I was nuts and not to listen to the midwives/hv was the breast consultant who drained the abscess.

It didn't help that I had oodles of milk. Years later the dentist commented that DS had a very flat palate and a little more research indicated that may have been the cause.

In the end an NCT volunteer who was oreviously a nurse visited and went out and bought me a set of bottles and a tin of formula and showed me what to do. That should have been done at about 10 days. It gave me permission to stop.

However, yes I do think there are costs attached to bf. For me:
Camillosan
Breast pads
Feeding bras
Hire of mechanical pump
Return cab ride to emergency pharmacist (they were not open 24/7 like now)
Private breast consultant
Books about it
Counselling months later to help with the PND that set in months later.

Lactation consultants were like hens teeth 27 years ago and other hcps were nazi like in their insistence that one had to breast feed.

DD was very little problem 3.5 years later but I had learnt a lot by then and I was very assertive about no more than 2 midwives visiting and I refused the hv. Generally 23 year old who think they know it all aren't helpful. The biggest cost 2nd time round was the au pair to help out with the three year old.

Let's not forget very poor women get milk tokens.

Well it was free for me.
And so much less hassle than bottle feeding.