FF and hospital

[QuoththeRaven]

Im due DC2 in feb by elcs, so i'll be in hospital for a couple of days. I'm planning on trying to bf, but it didn't go well at all last time and i partly blame this for pnd suffered after DC1's birth. I was made to feel like i was a terrible mother for not bf in hospital and afterwards by some m/w but to tell you the truth, DS is now 2.4 healthy with hardly any illnesses and a happy little boy. I'm not against ff in any way and feel he didn't suffer for lack of breast milk, tbh, as long as a child is healthy and happy i don't care what method is used to feed.

My real question.. sorry for going on and on, if it comes to having to ff while in hospital, how do i go about that? Do i get formula from hospital or do i bring my own in? We used those little glass bottles you can buy in supermarket (well thats what i was given) in hospital but i seem to remember something changing where you are charged for formula. So would i be better off thinking about buying the glass formula bottles myself if BF fails?

If you're planning to formula feed you need to bring your own, but if you need it for a medical reason the hospital provide it. In the first couple of days they only need tiny amounts of colostrum anyway, so no need for formula anyway I'd have thought?

thats what i thought, but according to m/ws when i was in hosp last time, he was screaming so much because he was hungry and i obviously wasn't bfing properly. Have a whole range of issues regarding bf/ff but still.. ho hum.

that saying, when he did get his first "bottle" he drank the whole thing...

Is your hopspital near a 24hr supermarket? You could always start with no formula then if you need (or want) to you can send DH or another visitor out to get some cartons and pre sterlised bottles.

The glass prepared bottles are good but I think you can only get them in packs of 15. Boots sell packs of 5 empty pre-sterilised bottles which you could use with cartons. This might work out more cost effctive because even if you do use formula you may only want a little top up to give you a break to get your head together rather than completely switching.

I gave DD a top up in hospital because she wouldn't latch for 24 hours and was screaming. I gave me a chance to get some sleep and I then went on to EBF for 4 months and now mix feed DD at 6 months.

The m/ws sound crap! Shouldn't they have been helping you breastfeed?

Maybe it's worth getting some helpline numbers together, or contacting a breastfeeding counsellor now, so if you get poor support in hospital this time you have some other places to get help from?

I got mine from the hospital at no charge. They used the glass bottles, give them a ring and ask them, I am also due in Feb and have just contacted maternity ward to double check they haven't changed their proceedures. February seems to be very close now doesn't it . Good luck.

Thinking about it the same happened at my hospital. I think most hosptials will provide milk for free in cases of medical need i.e. if you fully intended to breastfeed but some reason it doesn't work out or you want to give a top up.

I think they'll only provide for free though all the time you're still attempting to BF if you change your mind and want to FF instead you'll need to provide your own.

Hi there - I'm new to Mumsnet and spotted your thread when looking through. Our local hospital does not provide formula. The small glass SMA ready made bottles are available in packs of 12 from Mothercare, Ocado and Boots ranging from £13-£15. I hope that helps. Good luck with everything.

quoth please don't misunderstand me - if you are happy ffing (and your first post says you are) that's great, but your second post implies not, so, I just wanted to ask if you wanted to work through what went wrong before to try to see if bfing will work out this time?

I am NOT telling you that you should do one thing or another. I am just wanting to interpret what you're writing which is tough in this media.

I've recently had my second DC and all the mum's who were formula feeding were getting it from the hosptial for free. Don't know if that's cause I'm in Scotland?

The formula feeding mums in my hospital also got the little glass bottles for free (I am in England). And the midwife gave me two bottles for my twins when we went home (late evening), just in case night feeding didn't go well.

I would ring the maternity ward and ask (or ask your midwife?) as it seems different in each hospital?