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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Have you contacted your hospital to tell them you were disappointed with their breastfeeding support?

28 replies

hunkermunker · 23/01/2006 22:53

If not, why not?

OP posts:
starlover · 23/01/2006 22:54

to start with, i thought it was ok... and then as time went on i realised they were bloody useless....
now... well, it just seems too long ago

Clayhead · 23/01/2006 22:56

I haven't as mine was fine, strangely. Must have dropped lucky.

Health Visitors after I left hospital...well, there's another story.

VeniVidiVickiQV · 23/01/2006 22:56

Same as starlover. There is an element of acceptance that what you have been told/how you have been treated is normal.

Then, after waiting for days to be discharge without much support over anything you are so glad to be out you dont ever want to have to go near the place any time soon, let alone talk to people from there again.

tiktok · 23/01/2006 22:58

clay - you can tell your PCT about the rubbish HVs then!

lockets · 23/01/2006 22:59

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

Gillian76 · 23/01/2006 23:02

I made a complaint through my community midwife after DD2.

After coming up from the labour ward at about 1am I was put in a 4 bedded room with 2 other mothers waiting for induction. A midwife came to me when DD was crying and asked if she could take her away as the "other ladies needed their sleep".

Needless to say I declined and told her I would discharge myself there and then if she persisted. My baby and I would be staying together

dinny · 23/01/2006 23:02

I didn't complain. Should have done, really...or should I? I think would have been a different story if the lovely bf counsellor hadn't been on holiday. So probably just bad timing.

tiktok · 23/01/2006 23:11

dinny - good breastfeeding support can't depend on just one person...they can only be there 40 hours a week, and they get ill, or go on holiday, or maternity leave, whatever. It's a cause for compliant if because one person isn;t there, you had a crap time.

If it's not too late - complain now!

starlover · 23/01/2006 23:16

i found out afterwards that my hospital has a breastfeeding counsellor. never saw her, was never even told about her!

dinny · 23/01/2006 23:17

It's 3.5 years ago - think that's too late, Tiktok...?

VeniVidiVickiQV · 23/01/2006 23:30

Problem with mine is that they hand out all the leaflets, and make all the right noises but when it comes down to the practicalities they are "just too busy".

When you know that the NHS is short staffed and the maternity ward is burgeoning (antenatally, you have been kept in some days and not others irrespective of what your bp/protein in urea levels were higher), it all feels a little pointless.

Admittedly, being told i had to go and shower within half an hour of end of 3rd stage labour (because they needed the room etc) and that there was no time for DP to jump in a lift and go upstairs to the ward to get my bag and towel so that i could shower, that they would find me a towel and never did, and i subsequently had to dry myself on a (used?) gown on the floor in the shower room as there was nothing else, it should have rung alarm bells. But, i had just given birth afterall, AND, this is a hospital - its not their fault they are busy.....is it?

Easier said than done. IF i ever had a third baby, if circumstances allow i would have a home birth. If i had to stay in hospital again i would be devastated, but wont allow myself to be pushed around again under any circumstances - no matter how tired or how busy they seem to be.

dinny · 23/01/2006 23:35

Exactly, QV! And the night staff and (in my exp) a totally different kettle of fish, ie/ love wielding bottles of formula. When I had ds (and was much older and wiser than with dd!) I had to stop a night nurse who was desperate to take ds (6 hours old) and give him formula for no apparent reason other than he was feeding little and often. Gggrrrrrrr!

VeniVidiVickiQV · 23/01/2006 23:46

Absolutely about the night staff seemingly wanting "an easy life".

Still cant get over the woman who gave birth on the ante/post natal ward because it took them so long to answer the buzzer. (a half hour labour is quick but even so....)

VeniVidiVickiQV · 23/01/2006 23:49

The other excuse i have heard banded around is that they are full to bursting with pg women due to the "high levels of transient population in our area".

dinny · 23/01/2006 23:50

are you in S London, QV?

VeniVidiVickiQV · 23/01/2006 23:54

No, north London.

Pruni · 24/01/2006 07:42

Message withdrawn

nanneh · 24/01/2006 09:26

No, because the Edgware Birth Centre is one of the few natural birth centres in the country (NHS) and is in danger of being closed down (someone told me). So I think they have enough on their plates at the moment. I did not hear any stupid comments or myths during the few hours I was there (I went home the next morning after the birth), my latch was constantly monitored.

It's just that in my special situation they were not able to give the correct advice (they should have told me to hand express colostrum as DS did not latch at all for the first 4 days and I refused to give formula). They never even suggested formula, because it is against their policy to do so when its not medically necessary.

I think they do a great job, most of the mw's are extremely kind and supportive (esp. the one who brought my beautiful son to the world) and they DO support bf.

lucy5 · 24/01/2006 09:39

No but I should have done. When dd was born she had to go into a seperate room to be put under a heat lamp. In the middle of the night a nurse came and told me dd needed feeding. I had never bf before, I went to the romm expecting nurse to follow, she didn't. After trying for a while on my own I had to admit defeat and went and got a nurse. Who plonked me on a chair ,popped my boob out, shoved it into dds mouth and left. Luckily for me dd knew what to do and after some faffing from me she fed. Not a pleasant first experience, THANK GOD I had a child who took to it like a duck to water.

lucy5 · 24/01/2006 09:42

I didnt complain as 1 I didnt know any better and 2 I had so many issues around dds birth, she needed to be resussitated and my whole birth experience at that cruddy hospital I was glad that she wasnt having problems.

MeAndMyBoy · 24/01/2006 10:44

No I haven't complained I didn't realise that I could and that there should have been different help and that my experience (although it left me very very angry and upset) could and should have been different. When everyone (MW's/HV and NCC BF counsellor) were all saying that everything looked fine - I believed them and that it was just me being useless. I will be writing to complain now, even though my experience was 2.5yrs ago - they may dismiss it as irrelevant but it's my experience of their service.

I'm like Pruni in that I read around subjects and talk to people and I am gobsmacked at my total lack of knowledge about BF inspite of nursing DS for 6mths. I've only realised in the last couple of days literally that I know so little.

fishie · 24/01/2006 10:49

yes i did and was told that it will be fine in the future as they're getting some volunteers to deal with bfing anyway they'll have to be better than the midwives and even bf counsellor who were just useless.

Candiemom · 25/01/2006 18:22

No, I've chalked it up to my own lack of initiative before I had my daughter. We don't know now whether it was those early days or just my body that has resulted in me being unable to breastfeed. Found all the midwives had different views and the doctors different again. Very upsetting. Daughter is doing fine but the formula feeding is just a lot of work and frustration as she now has reflux. My own view now is that they really know very little about it all. And the support on bottle feeding is way way worse (because you know you should be breastfeeding and it's your fault you can't...)

shellybelly · 25/01/2006 18:55

slightly different, I tried breastfeeding when I had dd, she was jaundiced and I was anaemic after the birth and it took 4 days for my milk to come thro stayed in hospital till it did and the midwives were great, infact they could not do enough, however had awful problems on return home and I called out a midwife (not my usual midwife I should add) it was horrible she told me abruptly that i had flat nipples and that I would never be able to breastfeed, I felt such a failure, didn't go out the house for 2wks broke down all the time, didn't tell my regular midwife what had happened tho she knew i was upset about going onto the bottle infact she really thought i was going to end up with PND, it took me ages to get over not being able to breastfeed, so should I have complained about this midwife and her lack of tact and compassion??

Caligula · 25/01/2006 18:58

Yes I did six years ago after DS's birth. Can't remember what the outcome was now though