'Support for peer supporters' thread

[crikeybadger]

Join in here if you are a peer supporter or thinking of becoming one.

It's a space to share your good ideas for setting up and running groups, share concerns or offer suggestions for ways to support women with breastfeeding.

I know there's lots of peer supporters on this board so I think we can all learn a lot from each other.

I am thinking of doing the ABM introductory course, and then the NCT diploma if that goes well. It's OK to do that, right, as it's not like you commit to anything with ABM with their first one?

Can't start yet though as daughter only 4 months so don't have enough experience.

sc It's my understanding that if you've done an intro/peer/mother support/etc course with any other charity, the NCT will NOT allow you to take their diploma course.

hi hope its ok to join in late?! I'm just finishing the bfn peer/helper supporter training. I don't have my pack handy but i think.its either 3 or 4 months breastfeeding experience you need.

Hi sorry to join in so late. I completed my peer supporter training about a month ago and currently attend the breastfeeding support drop in at my local Surestart weekly, however we are looking to gear this up and they are looking to have us call on mums in their homes, after we have each completed some practical 'hands on' training.

Has anyone else got experience of seeing mums in their home setting?

No need to apologise Harverina and Yesmynameis- nice to have some mroe experiences.

Yesmynameis- I too attend a Surestart group, but have been told we aren't allowed to see Mums in their homes. It gets complicated with insurance and health and safety etc apparently.

So not much help there, but maybe others will pop along and share.

I trained as a peer supporter with SureStart/local NHS 4 years ago.

I've moved halfway across the country since then and am now getting involved with setting up the first BF group and peer supporters in the area where we live now.

Round here there is shockingly little support for BF - minimum 50 mile round trip to see a BFC, basically no TT division available locally (they refuse to even refer ), HVs who routinely undermine womens' feeding choices and advise early weaning, insistence on weekly weigh-ins for BF babies below the 50th centile (apparently means they need monitoring ), no local support group (as yet).

It fecks me right off, because antenatally they are full of empty promises about the help available - the midwives are actually great IME and very supportive, but after they discharge you that's it. Women are being let down big time.

Hi there all.I haven't read the thread, but I have seen it in the board before and I thought I'd just pop in to tell you all that at out drop-in yesterday 2 mums said that having the group is what has saved their breastfeeding.

So, even if you are feeling down and despondent, peer-support does make a difference.

ahhh, that's good to know The RealMBJ- especially I has have just returned from a group where there were no breastfeeding mothers.

I had a nice chat with the infant feeding coordinator though.

Just read the whole thread.

I trained intially with a local midwife as a peer-supporter but have gone on to complete the ABM Mother Supporter and have just finished the transitional module and received the first module for BFC training. Am very, very excited. Our area really needs trained bf support. I am training alongside 2 other members of our peer-support group.

Our group has had a a complex start. It was begyun about 2 years ago by an interested MW (same one that did my initial training) and a local peer-supporter. It was run by the MW and as such was essentially under NHS control. About a year ago we were constitutionalised and became an independent organisation.

This was the best thing we have done.

The last year has been quite rocky, and we have needed to be quite clear in boundary setting etc, but our independence has meant that we are free to do a lot of things that other groups have trouble with. Our 3 most active peer-supporters are all ABM MSers, which helps because we are covered by the ABM's insurance provided we comply with the ABM's code of conduct. We are, however, in the process of getting our own insurance to cover other peer-supporters in the group.

We have applied for funding from local businesses, which has enabled us to purchase some resources and receive a lot of support from our local Children's Centre (free room hire etc).

We do 'allow' home visits to new mums, although we encourage them to come along to the drop-ins and run bf antenatal workshops. We are planning on running our own peer-support training course later in the year.

It has been really hard work getting to the place we are in now, and at times I have really wondered whether it was worth it (we have had some run ins with some of the less supportive HCPs) but being independent has really been fantastic in terms of being able to support mums.

Queen our area sounds very, very much like yours. It is a rural out-post where old, outdated HVs seem to come to spread myths and misinformation and undermine bf in everyday possible where support for bf is woefully inadequate.

Thought I would resurrect this thread to get some advice from you fellow peer supporters.

A new group has been set up in a Children's Centre in a town near me. However, since the initial meeting, the highest turnout has only ever been one breastfeeding mother (and sometimes no one has come at all.)

It's an NHS group as is supported by a midwife or assistant practitioner.

I'm just wondering what we can do to get more people there, I'm even starting to think that maybe breastfeeding support groups just aren't what women need or want as if they were in demand then that would be reflected in the turnout.

Perhaps women think that they only need to come if there is a problem? Maybe they would rather go to a group where they can get a decent cup of coffee and a piece of cake? Don't get me started on the CC's policy of no hot drinks at the sessions.

Or maybe it just needs a bit of time to get going and for word to spread?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Oh, women do need and want them.

Our group reall found we were starting to be utilised when the mum's knew about us antenatally.

badger my experience is that women do appreciate these groups and the key to attendance is in two parts: i) getting midwives and HVs to inform each mother many times about where it is and what times it meets - and for them to tell every mother. They often forget or decide that such-and-such a mother would not want to go ii) buddying up so peer supporters call for mothers and take them to the meetings.

Good luck.

Well apparently they are given the details of the group antenatally. I even went along to chat with some parents at the end of the antenatal session on bfing and they were really pushing local support groups and saying it's good to go along to them before they give birth.

Interesting that you 'broke away' away from the NHS group TheRealMBJ. Sounds like it has many benefits, but I can't see it happening around here as all the groups are run through the NHS. Does the mw still attend the group?

Thanks for that tiktok, the buddying up sounds like a great idea. I'll take that suggestion to our next peer supporters catch up.

Our support group is tanking badly at the moment with only 2 mums last week, yet one in a very small town nearby apparently has 30-40 mothers attend each week (our town has 100K+ & nearby town has 23K). It does however have a very good NCT BFC and we have Nursery Nurses and BFPS only as we are a NHS group and the nearby town is a BabyCafe one.

We have the same problem re drinks, only water is allowed and no food is allowed in the room (we run 12-2 ) so mothers have to eat before hand or leave the room to give their toddlers something to eat. They are however allowed to bf in the room (thankfully).

No, and actually we don't really want her to. Not because we don't like her, but because although she is lovely and means well, her bf knowledge isn't very up to date and she often advises mothers to top-up with formula/ebm etc. Also we have found that mums automatically assume that HCPs know what they are talking about and that it can be very detrimental to the bf relationship.

We were also (and still are) assured that mums are told about us but since mums have started to attend, they have always either self-referred, found out about us from the CC leaflet or came to us through our antenatal workshop, which we advertise to mums attending the NHS antenatal classes ourselves, through the MWs and posters in the maternity unit and doctor's surgeries as well as around town.

We don't have a huge number of mums come btw. and it isn't really an issue. Usually 2-3 mums during the week sometimes attending both sessions and sometimes none. But they do come for help with problems which is why we are there.

We also operate in a very difficult area with very poor bf rates and some HV and nursery nurses who seem to actively undermine bf (never mind be ill informed).

Our town has neighbourhoods that are among the most deprived in the county (albeit a pretty affluent county in the SE) and some that are among the most affluent so it's a real mixed bag.

I think some areas are written of re. bfing (one had an initiation rate of ~40%!) so the mothers don't get the encouragement to go to a bfing group because it will all be full of smug perfect MC mummies (it's not we have all classes [though no titled ladies , religions, races and educational levels).

We are really trying to increase attendance but it's not working atm.

Tip: get some really nice flyers made, with a website link, which you can put pictures on showing you all looking nice and friendly, plus an email or phone no. for more information. Make it compulsory for midwives and HVs to give these out with verbal encouragement to everyone who is bf....and get this checked, by finding out yourselves if mothers get them, and by getting the managers to remind and chase.

The usual scenario is that midwives and others are simply not telling mothers about the groups.

Thanks TikTok

We have flyers, posters, sandwich boards, placards on walls etc, we have a FB group, we aren't allowed to have a website (I believe NHS rules) and we had a phone no. but no-one called it or if they did they wanted support on the phone and as PS we aren't trained to that level.

We do the Ante-natal classes (well a kind of fair thing at the local hospital), all the Red books have a list of the Well Baby Clinics with a peer supporter and a list of the drop-ins (we run 2 a week) and still hardly anyone comes.

The HV/MWs are supposed to tell all new parents about us too and as I volunteer at the MW 10 day check at our local Children & Family centre I see a lot of new mums, most are bottle feeding though - one week out of about 10 mums not one was bfing and it's not uncommon for there to only be 1 or 2 new mums bfing out of a full mornings appointments. I do chat to all the new parents not just the ones I think are bfing and I never ask 'are you bfing?'.

I'm beginning to think it must be us though we are nice a friendly bunch who are very welcoming to all, even Dads (though I know some HP would prefer it if we didn't have any men at our groups ever)

Your area sounds much like ours Truth. It's not you personally, I'm sure.

Crumbs, that's loads of publicity Truthsweet. It does just sound like there is a very low breastfeeding rate in your area.

I was wondering about facebook, but I'm a bit 'technically challenged'. Was also thinking about whether there could be a text reminder of the date and time of the group just a few days before it is on.

Well we have a board up in the entrance to the Children's Centre I do most of my volunteering at, at the other CC there is a sandwich board that gets put up when the drop in is running, all the CC have our leaflets. It would be nice to have them up in the town centre or at the libraries but I'm not sure if the local PCT would go for it.

We wouldn't have the budget for text messages but good idea, there is a peer supported Well baby clinic or drop-in running every weekday so it's only over the weekend that there isn't anything (we even run in the holidays!).

Our fb group is an open group and has the times for all the clinics/drop-ins on it but I don't know what sort of traffic we get.

Our other problem is peer supporter retention as we have a hard core few who seem to do everything yet 10-12 ps were trained at each course with 2-3 courses a year running before the NHS took us over. We haven't run one in a year now.

This is why I am so glad we are independent.

Right, seems to me what you have not yet nailed is the personal touch - the buddying up, and the frequentreminders from m/ws and HVs....my experience is they are truly awful at just not telling mothers about the groups. Mothers need to be told many times, in person, and buddying will help them have confidence that they won't have to need the courage to pitch up at a venue knowing no one.