Oh wise MNetters I need some advice of attitudes to BF, not sure how to deal with this

[Restrainedrabbit]

Firstly it's probably worth reading this thread to get the background to this story :) www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/1145574-to-take-my-17-week-old-baby-to-my-CBT-appointment

In a nutshell I was discharged from CBT against my wishes because the powers that be felt that having my baby with me during sessions was not helpful - despite the fact that she slept through it all etc! Anyway after much to and fro-ing and debate I made a complaint to the PCT with the following letter (have deleted names etc).

Dear Mr ***,

I am writing to you to discuss my concerns regarding my experience of the service in . I have complained verbally via the complaints line at * however despite lengthy discussions the issues remain unresolved.

I self referred to the service via the GP after suffering from and for a number of years. My problems got significantly worse after the births of my three children. I requested CBT in October 2009 and finally had access to the service last May (2010), it was decided that telephone treatment would not be approriate and I was offered Stage 3 face to face treatment which started in August last year. However due to the birth of my youngest daughter in October 2010, my lovely () therapist taking annual leave and subsequently leaving the service all together my treatment was rather disjointed and thus despite forming a solid therapeutic relationship any progress made has inevitibly been minimal. Therefore when I resumed treatment in January it was decided to give me 16 sessions due to the treatment being previoulsy disjointed. I resumed therapy with * and had two sessions before it was decided (by the service) that bringing my 3 month old breastfed baby along to the sessions was both limiting the 'usefulness' of the treatment because merely having her in the room was, in their opinion, a distraction despite DD2 sleeping through or feeding throughout the sessions. In addition it has been argued that the full breadth of tools available can not be utilised, further probing into this has revealed that the method of panic induction to demonstrate what a panic attack is and why could not be used. I remain unconvinced that the exclusion of this method would be detrimental to the overall success of the therapy.

My issues are as follows:

1. Despite fully appreciateing that it is improssible to always accurately estimate demand for a new service the length of time to access therapy was rather excessive.
2. Not initially being offered slots outside of the 9-5 window despite the service being 'open' from 8 til 8. Was finally provisionally offered a 7pm slot but was subsequently told that this would not be possible and offered 6.30pm slot instead. However this coincides with the final breastfeed of the day with my daughter (a 7pm slot would be just about do-able). Poor communication has characterised my experience with the service.
3. Not being able to take a breastfed baby to tretament disadvantages those mothers that choose to feed their babies this way, if I had severe PND then how would I be able to access treatment?! This could appear to be discriminatory as it excludes a clearly defined section of the community from being able to receive the same standard of treatment/care as everyone else.
4. Not having my opinions taken into consideration, I feel that despite repeatedly stating that I would rather continue with treatment and bring my baby with me I have been railroaded into being discharged from the service against my wishes. If my problems could have waited a few years then I wouldn't have referred when I did. Surely if I am prepared to accept that the full range of options open to me may be restricted through bringing my baby to therapy I should be allowed to continue as normal. As an aside my daughter has slept or fed through the sessions.
5. Being offered a sub-standard therapy i.e. telephone therapy when assessment has already indicated that my problems are too deep seated and complex to be resolved this way. This seems unreasonable and unsatisfactory.

With regards to how I would like my concerns and complaints to be resolved, I would like to be able to resume face to face treatment as soon as possible.

Kind regards

Restrained Rabbit

Anyways the outcome is that today I have been offered face to face therapy again with my daughter in tow however if I have a male therapist I must 'feed discretely' and he must leave the room. If female I must allow her to leave if she wants to. I must also sign a contract saying I will do the above, the reason for this is so I am aware of my boundaries and what is and is not acceptable in the therapy room. When I said I felt that they were implying that BF is distasteful or sexual - and that I find the implication of that highly offensive I was told that 'management' feel that BF is something that should be done in private and is not for public consumption!!?? I pointed out that this is also discriminating against BF mothers as a FF mother would not be treated in the same way!?

There is lots more information but this is long enough already so it may be a AIBU by stealth

Help! What should I do? Am I being over sensitive?

Also if I go along with it and complain at a later date, won't I be taken less seriously for not raising my concerns earlier?

Oh and :( Truthsweet that is truly awful :(

Depends what the contract says but agreeing to do what they ask is not the same as agreeing that what they ask is reasonable. You can complain at a later date that it was unreasonable to ask you to sign a contract like that. You personally are going to gain very little from complaining, you're just going to make life easier for others in the same position. So you might as well leave the complaint until you've finished the treatment.

Yes I see your point :) I have requested today that they send me the contract in the post before I start any sessions, then I can make my decision.

Worrying that this is coming from higher up though, could almost excuse it at grass roots levels.

YANBU. They are bonkers .

Restrainedrabbit, this might be coming from higher up, but I don't think it's likely. I think it's quite likely the Medical Director, the Nursing Director, the Director of Commissioning etc would all be (a) horrified and (b) pissed off to hear your story. That's why I was asking who you'd heard from. In addition to what level of person had told you the decision, I'd be particularly interested in know if it was a decision of the IAPT provider or the commissioner (ie the PCT). There is a possibility that it could also have come from the PCT acting as a provider (they still provide some community health services). The joys of NHS structures....

It's from the IAPT provider which is the mental health branch of the PCT. I think you are right in that I need to find out exactly who said this.

Yes, do find out. I presume that the mental health branch of the PCT will be its Childrens and Adults Mental Health Service (CAMHS). I'd find out the name of the medical director and send them an email directly. If you want more help doing this, PM me.

Thanks Sihilly :)

YANBU. YAVDNBU. I'm totally shocked by the blatant discrimination going on under the auspices of the NHS.