'You can't BF a baby that weighs over 8lb at birth' Is bollocks yes?

[Kayzr]

My cousin had a baby girl a few days ago who weighed 8lb 6oz. Unluckily for her she has the MW that I had with DS2 who told me I couldn't BF as he was over 10lb, had jaundice and had to be tube fed if I refused formula top ups.

My cousin has rung in floods of tears to say that she's been told pretty much the same thing. But it is because (using MW words) it is impossible to BF a baby that weighs over 8lb as you can't produce enough milk. She has refused the top ups for now and MW said she will be back tomorrow and if baby hasn't gained 2oz then she will have to have her admitted to hospital to be tube fed.

My cousins DD has only gone down to 8lb 3oz so not lost a huge amount at all. They are heading to the city near here this afternoon to go to the breastfeeding group for help and advice. But I said I would ask here too.

It is bollocks isn't it? My neice was born at 34 weeks and weighed over 8lb and my SIL is BF but there was some expressing to begin with.

Also can she tell the MW to go away and ask for someone else to be sent?

Thnak you.

DD 9lbs 11 BF

I feel angered reading this. I was told by some HCPs that I would 'struggle' to breastfeed DS who was 8lbs 6oz at birth, because I am five foot one and size 6/8.

I breastfed for 12 months and never had to supplement with formula.

I was also told I would struggle as I am diabetic, and because I had a cs. Both bollocks again.

It's bullshit. My DS was exactly 8 lbs 6 oz and I BFd him until he was 15 months old.

You hardly ever get the same MW here when they do the home visits so I am hoping it will be someone else tomorrow.

it's very common for new borns to have jaundice before the milk comes in.
it's not a problem unless it continues for a time afterwards (sorry, don't know how long)

if her milk is starting to come in now, then i don't see any problems.
of course the baby will lose a little bit of weight - milk takes a while to come in, so the baby is getting substance but not quantity (no matter how calorific your milk, it won't put weight on in a couple of days - it's volume that does that)

horrible midwife. shocking.

She hasn't lost much at all, why would she need to be admitted and tube fed? Unless there was something else going on which we don't know about.

That weight loss is well within 10% and sounds like she's acutaly do a fab job.

This is my biggest bug bear at the moment many women really trust there HPC's (which is a good in some respects) but then to get such awrfull advice is just shocking. She needs reporting.

My DD was 8lb 6oz and was BF for almost 3year never had formula and never lost any weight.

Ask the MW to show you in writing that baby can feed if over 8lb and what evidence there is to suggest this. Then report her.

What a load of crap! Women produce enough milk for twins in the early weeks which is why your norks are the size of mount everest. I had two who were over 8lb and two under.

Jaundice is very common and doesn't need top ups if the baby is full term, healthy and it is not severe. My first needed formula top ups because he was prem and his jaundice was pretty bad. All of my others have had it mildly for a week or so and it cleared up by itself. Breastmilk is the best thing for jaundice anyway, it clears it out alot faster. It sounds like her milk has started to come in if she's engorged.

Dd1 was 8lb 11oz, bfed exclusively until 32 weeks and then after solids fed until 22 months.

Dd2, 8lb 15.5oz, exclusively bfed to 28 weeks then until 11 months with solids.

That midwife needs reporting again, your cousin can refuse to see that particular midwife too and arrange for another to do the post natal checks if she isn't happy with her.

My DS was 8lb4 when born and has been exclusively BF since. At first he went down to 7lb10 and the midwife usually says a baby should regain his birth weight after 2 wks. It is wrong that the MW is threatening your cousin after a few days!

My DS is 9months now and still heavily reliant on BM, takes a few bits and pieces of food but not enough to write home about. He's a chunky thing, active (cruising around the furniture) and full of personality. I think your cousins midwife is seriously lacking in knowledge on just how calorific BM is, up to 12 months a babies main source of nutrition should be BM. The size or weight of the baby is irrelevant, your boobs will do all the work in that respect.

Tell your cousin to follow her instincts and her baby's cue. BF as often as baby wants it. See if her local hospital has a BF councillor, she should have been
given a phone number for one when discharged. She should arm herself with knowledge and accurate advice before seeing this MW again. Also if she feels that she should complain about the MW, she could contact the 'supervisor' of midwives which the hospital or community MWs should advise who that is.

The BF group she was going to starts at 1pm so hopefully she will get some good help there. She said she would ring or text to let me know what they've said.

Ds1 8lb 6oz, bf until two years old.

Luckily no-one told me or my 9lb 10oz baby this. DD was bf until she was 2.5, she was a large and healthy baby and I had no trouble feeding her - if anything she may have had too many calories as she was very chubby - even as an exclusively bf baby. She's 5 now and is bang on for height and weight for her age.

My DS was 9lb 10oz too and I breastfed for nine months.

He's now 10 and is huge. Just bought him his first pair of size 7 shoes

Just to add to the many who have said the same - all 3 of my children were over 8lb at birth (first born was 9lb) and all were exclusively breast fed from day 1 til weaning (only mixed fed from 4 months in dc2's case as I had to go into hospital unexpectedly with no time to prepare) - still breast feeding the youngest, who is 10.5 months now. I had c-sections too, which I have also heard quoted as making BF hard/ impossible

Oh yes. Mine were c-sections too...

She's just rang me from the BF group to say that BF counsellor says latch is fine, milk is just starting to coming in so should start picking up weight in next few days, also jaundice is very mild and will be cleared up also in a few days. MW is talking rubbish, counsellor said that sometimes bigger babies can be a little harder to feed.

The BF counsellor is going to visit them at home tomorrow to show more holds and check on her at home.

So cousin is prepared to tell MW that she is not having the top ups.

I'm glad to hear this.

can she co-incide the bf counsellor's visit with the midwife?

The MW is an 'expert' in delivering babies, not BF!

I don't know pookamoo, I know when I had DS2 3 years ago they never made appointments and just showed up so you had to sit at home all day waiting and hoping they came in the morning.

My youngest was 8lb 14oz and I breastfed him for 12 months, what a load of crap some people spout.

We asked to change our HV because I didn't get on with her, we had prem twins and she was an absolute nightmare - eg, 2 hours out of hospital after being in SCBU for 3 weeks she woke them up, took off wristbands and told me not to bother trying breastfeeding.......I did the both of them for 3 months.

Presumably as she's the midwife she won't be involved much longer though, so hopefully your cousin will find herself in more sympathetic and helpful hands soon.

Yours and your cousin's midwife is clearly insane and should be utterly disregarded. DS was 8lbs 12 oz and exclusively breast fed until he started solids at 5.5 mo, by which point he weighed around 19 lbs (he was a complete chunker from day 1 and gained half a pound a week).

Forgot to say went on to BF him until 14 mo.

It is so hard as a first time Mum when you get so called professionals telling you this crap. It can be very difficult to stand strong, but hopefully your cousin will manage to do just that.

If it is the same mw she can tell her she wants a second opinion and that the baby will be going nowhere.