Feeding support at home?

[JuniorMum]

Do you think it would be nice to have an experienced Mum visit you at home to reassure you about what normal feeding is like? Sometimes its good to talk to someone if you dont have family and friends locally who can visit.

Do you think Mums would pay for this type of service?

If anyone does think they would, what sort of rate would you pay? (I know doulas charge around 15 pounds per hour for general home support visits).

thanks for your thoughts.

A quick search on google brings up breastfeeding consultants who charge anything between 30 and 100 pounds.

The NCT have breastfeeding counsellors who offer free advice on the phone.

I don't think I would pay.

I wouldn't pay as there is free help from NCT, LL, BfN and ABM on the phone. Sometimes their (volunteer) counsellors will do home visits. Plus the NHS is already rolling out

programme of peer support, which is what you are describing. It's free for all at point of use.

I am really rather at lactation consultants charging for this sort of help which any mum who wants to bf should get from the NHS and her own community. Enabling those who want to bf to do so saves the NHS money in the long run. Charging mothers would only serve to increase health inequalities.

But there will always be those who want to pay... I knew someone who paid ££££ for a maternity nurse and said MN gave absolutely shite bf advice to the poor mother.

I agree that in an ideal world there would be free home visits available throughout the country. In reality it is just chance what is available in your area.

Some lactation consulatants are paid by NHS to do clinics in hospitals. Most dont make much money through private work because there are free services available through NHS although not usually home visits.

From my point of view I would like to make a career out of helping women with breastfeeding but it is difficult to see how.

I think a way around the issue of health inequalities (in the absence of an NHS service) is to charge those who can afford it
and not charge those who cant. I think this is what most breastfeeding/lactation consultants do anyway.

I was talking about a more informal visiting service to offer reassurance to new mums rather than specific breastfeeding advice.

I agree no woman should have to pay for this - there is plenty of free support out there via NHS, NCT and LLL. Also i don't think it is essential that home visits are carried out - personally I found it helpful to attend a clinic and share experiences with other women.

Youre right StrawberrySam that training as a counsellor is an option. Same moral dilemma exists about is it OK to charge for your services and make a career out of it or is that immoral in which case you have to get a different paid job and volunteer if and when you can fit it in. I do know counsellors who charge but waive the charge if someone is on benefits.

Our local counsellor gave it up when she had to go back to work full time which I find really sad. Now there is no-one locally to visit Mums at home. I find that even as a volunteer peer supporter I can help Mums a lot already in hospital and I would like to do the same in their homes, but I would have to charge to be able to make it into a job as an alternative to going back to my previous work.

As others have said I don't really think there is (or shouuld be) much opportunity for paid work as you describe. Perhaps you could think about training as a bfc and then offering facilitation to other orgs running groups for mums/mums to be. Eg NCT pay BFC's that facilitate at their antenatal classes. That way a body (who have funds to deliver bf advice) pay you rather than the indiidual women recieving the training iyswim.

As for your moral dilema I think if you train for a voluntary position you should continue to volunteer for as long as you are able. You could ask about the sort of commitment they would like before commiting to training. You might be offered paid work along side voluntary and imo it is ok to offer the skills you aquire to hire for other orgs if youu are still available for free to your training org...if that makes sense!

Esentially you would owe those that train you big time and they should be your priority, but I can't see it being a problem to work for others, I imagine many bfc's work too?

I think most volunteer while theyre at home with their little ones and then give up once their little ones go to school and they go back to full time paid work.

I dont see why you cant work as a private bfc in the same way you can work as a private nurse or midwife if you choose. Particularly if that allows you to volunteer the rest of the time with those that cant/dont want to pay.

I dont see why I should only work for NCT if private individuals want to pay me to visit them at home, particularly if I offer a free service to people on benefits. Its not like I would charge a huge fee. Just slightly more than a babysitter or cleaner. In an ideal world the NHS would pay me and it would be free at the point of delivery, but there is no funding for that in this area. I have already asked several times. They will not even fund a volunteer home visiting service here.

Why not train as a doula OP? Could you not specialise as a post natal one then offer some bfing support too?

Yep. That is another option. That would mean charging too of course, but thats the same for any profession.

I live in buckinghamshire which has relatively few deprived areas. Apparently the breastfeeding rates are relatively high here so thats why theres no funding for additional services, which I suppose is fair.
There is great support at local hospitals but in this part of bucks there are no babycafes and no home visiting