told to stop breastfeeding by my gp at 10.5mths

[tots2ten]

Dd4 is 10.5mths old. I went to see the gp this morning as i have a sinus infection. She asked if I had tried homeopathic medicine for sinus infection, I said no, she asked would I try. I said once i stop breastfeeding then I would look into it should I need too.

She then asked how old the baby was, I said 10.5mths, and she looked and told me 'You need to stop that now, dear there is no need to continue bfing once you have begun weaning as that is what formula is for' I told her that the WHO guidelines state that bfing upto 2yrs. then she told me 'I think you have misunderstood what you have read, you only need to breastfeed for 6mths, then stop once you start weaning and switch to formula'

I told her to look at the WHO guidelines, only for her to tell me 'I have a medical degree and I am telling you, that there is no need to breastfeed, its all for you and not for your baby, she needs to become more indepdant and have a bottle'

Will complaining mean that I have to change surgeries? the rest of the gps are ok, and I like the health visitor that I have. She is a new doctor to the practice.

NQC i didnt get the more independent bit either?

No, I don't think that they can kick you out (other people might know more). I'd definitely change GPs though, if she's the one in the practice you are registered too.

to, not too, obviously...

Could it be that she was letting you know it won't do your baby harm to stop BFing so that you can treat your sinus problem?

No, you won't have to change. Rather than making a formal complaint, just call the practice manager for an informal chat.

What tosh! I'm getting a bit fed up of hearing about GPs dishing out terrible advice when it comes to breast feeding. My own experience has also been pretty rubbish... retraining methinks...

I'm not registered to her, I went to a 'open clinic' its open between 8.30 and 11am, you have to wait and you see A doctor usually there are about 6 doctors on for this clinic but can make appointments 2 weeks in advance to see a doctor of your choice (if that makes sense)

paisleyleaf she was shocked when I said that I was continuing to breastfeed until dd4 self weans, or I have had enough. At the moment I have no intentions of stopping and that is when the gp told me that I was feeding for me not for the baby

just to add I have nothing against bottle feeding, my other 5 dcs were all bottlefed.

If it werent for an mnetter I would not of breast fed, didn't have the confidence with the others.

totaaly outrageous, am very embarrassed at the way some doctors (don't) communicate and won't accept when they're wrong...

which she was on loads of levels.

maybe she was trying to be open minded since chronic sinusitis is quite hard to treat??!!

definitely complain to practice manager- this should be a learning point for the whole practice- maybe they could have a regular session where the HV teaches the GPs about recent changes in things that she is involved with? Suggest that they do a UNICEF breastfeeding awareness course- it was compulsory for anyone working in maternity services at my last hospital, only 4 hours, and worthwhile.

You won't have to change surgery, just ask to see someone else...

I'm sorry this has happened. She's letting the side down big time.

oh my life, i have never heard anything so ridiculous. FROM A GP!

not much more to add

at the water homeopathy suggestion and double at your GP's total lack of BF knowledge. She sounds completely rubbish to me, I'd be making a complaint and then seeing a different doctor.

" She asked if I had tried homeopathic medicine for sinus infection, I said no, she asked would I try. "

You should have said that you have already drunk water that morning, so you've had a homeopathic dose of every drug there has ever been.

I had a similar thing from my GP, once (when DS was 9 mths and I'd been up all night with him and very high temp) she criticised me because he wasn't having baby juice 'and why not? Babies like it!' she told me to go and buy some then and there and make sure he drank it so he didn't get dehydrated.

Being hugely worried and confused I left an upset DS at home (luckily mum was there, couldn't take him with me as possibly contagious) and ran round all the shops in small town trying to find the wretched stuff - only to find he wouldn't drink it when I did, but he did BF as if his life depended on it for the rest of the day!

2nd time when he was 14 mths and I thought he had ear infection, in the following chat about how he was doing she told me off for feeding him at night GP 'what on earth are you doing that for, he has no need of milk in the night' me 'but what if he needs comforting?' GP 'he can get that during the day too!' :( Oh and then she referred me to HV as apparently I needed 'support in my parenting'!

Luckily I ignored her advice and am still BFing (even at night when DS wants to) at 23.5 months!

So, she

• told you to take a sugar pill for a sinus infection
• called you dear
• told you that you couldn't read a simple set of guidelines correctly
• told you that her medical degree made her an expert on breastfeeding
• told you that there was no benefit to your baby from breastfeeding past 6 months (among others, the American Academy of Pediatrics would disagree, and I think they have one or two medical degrees between them)

Would definitely make official complaint to practice manager and suggest some additional training, although hard to determine whether more important to targer breastfeeding knowledge or elementary good manners.

Isn't homeopathy bollocks too?

oh tots, I'm so proud of you! And there's you 11 months ago thinking you couldn't do it and now you are standing up to your silly bint nobber GP for BFing!
That's so cool

Thank you Ilythia, but if it werent for you I would not have even tried

I phoned the practice manager and he is going to phone me back, plus i spoke to my health visitor who is also going to talk to the practice manager

I would be furious! Complain to the practice manager, certainly, and personally I'd be tempted to write to the head of the trust as well, to make sure she gets a bollocking from every angle.

And maybe post her a set of WHO guidelines...

Idiot.

I hope you're okay.

stop, youi'll make me

My doc is lovely, I told ehr I was still feeding DD2 at 20 months and she said to her 'ooh, you lucky thing!'

the other docs are ok, not helpful but ok. hv is really good though.

I am really tempted to print off a copy of the WHO guidelines and highlight it

I'm ok, just annoyed with her stupidity and calling me dear

Blimey, good job you were equipped to stand up to her! In your position I think I'd have been so busy laughing uproariously at the homeopathy suggestion that I'd have missed the rest of her patronising, ill-informed advice. Just showed the original post to my tame GP DH who generated a few choice doctor-directed swear words in response :)

well done for standing up to her and calling the practice manager, it's awful to think that someone might actually follow her 'advice'.

Let us know what happens! Oh, and congrats on feeding your DD for this long!

I do like the homeopathy angle ... It adds a certain je ne sais quoi to what would otherwise be just another my-GP-is-a-cretin story ...

Good Lord, why do people think they can spout on about stuff they clearly know absolutely NOTHING about? "I have a medical degree AND I am utterly devoid of any capacity to relate to people, so I am well qualified to instruct you EXACTLY how you ought to run every aspect of your little life, dearie."

FFS.

She's clearly not as bright as she thinks she is, is she?

I can feel a slap coming on. Somebody hold me back!