Hv said breastfeeding frequently is like constantly giving sweets

[CKMUM]

I know breastmilk is very sweet but silly woman

What did you say to her? What was the conversation leading up to this?

Does she expect the baby to be eating steak and chips? Am that a hv seems to ignorant of baby's feeding, I expect she thinks you should be on a strick 3/4 hourly regime (which imo is wrong esp in this hot weather, baby's probably thirsty a lot!) Have read a few convos on here about crap hvs, mine is pretty nice and quite knowledgable. My dh says she reminds him of Mama in the film version of Chigaco!

PMSL at the 2 classes for HVs

We were actually talking about my concerns about my older child's speech, thats why she came round because i think she may need speech therapy

hv is talking shite.

its got antibiotic qualities - IT WILL KILL BACTERIA IN THE MOUTH!

and that is just the start of it.

yes, i know its sweet but decay arises when sugar combines wit bacteria and the milk is bacteriostatic isnt it. Usually I juest say to health professioanls that start on about feeding that I am a trainee bf counsellor and they shut up then, either because they think I know more than them or think I just wont listen if I think i know more than them.

But for some reason yesterday I just took it!

Ok, I'm rolling out one of my fave bf + hv stories.

A GP I met at a party, had had an HV under him who was telling her patients that if you bf past 6 months, your child would not learn to speak properly.

yes thats something esle Ive been told. I am feeding a 15 month old and a 28 month old

I'm a HV too - can I just say AAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!

Sorry - felt the need to scream - the stupid woman doesn't know what she's on about. Where the bloody hell is she getting her info from - Cow & Gate?

Are you going to put her straight?

"A GP I met at a party, had had an HV under him who was telling her patients that if you bf past 6 months, your child would not learn to speak properly."

???????

PMSL

aragon, if it helps, the gp also told me he'd had to sack that HV.

My other favourite bf + medical professional story: a friend of mine was told, at her 6-week check, by the GP (at my practice! which is a good practice, generally, other than the evil HV who hates BF), that her babies head was growing disproportionately large, compared to his body, and she should give formula. This opinion was backed up by the HV.

Luckily, she figured, if something that weird was happening, shouldn't she be seeing a paed and generally freaking out?

(Also, if your baby's head isn't growing fast enough, and you're giving formula, do they make you stop?)

I have a friend who is a supervisor of HVs. And who is lovely and very pro-BF. And I have met quite a few HVs who were great.

Stupid stupid But sadly not suprising

Found out last year that there are literally 2 different classes for HV where bf is concerned: Those that choose to take the bf module & those that dont. I cant believe it is still only an optional part of their training . How on earth anyone can call themselves an expert on children ages 0-5 when bf isnt a compulosry part of their training is beyond me

BF training isn't mandatory? Ack.

I know my HV manager friend was getting all her HVs extra-trained, and going for some sort of baby-friendly kitemark. Or something.

No HM,comment wasn't harsh.
She remains a fucking idiot?

B/feeding impedes speech?????
Purrlease-what a load of shit.

I am a SALT btw.

OMG, notquitecockney, those stories are truly shocking. I'm not against hvs, as I say mine is v. nice, but don't you need a good level of knowledge of breastfeeding?

Sorry, ckmum I didn't realise you were a trainee bf counsellor with some years of breastfeeding experience

I bfed DS until he was 15 months, and I always got the comment "oh you are still going on that are you?" from my shite HV. She also told me that I's starve DS if I didn't give him solids at 4 months Why the feck are they still spouting all that crap?

Hunker, you are right, she's a fucking idiot.

For the record, my other HV is fantastic, and very supportive of BFing, and never pushed me to start anything. She even once said "DS is your baby, you know him best. I'm just here to give you all the options and a bit of guidance along the way" The world needs more HVs like her.

What worries me is that these people work with emotionally vulnerable mothers who look to their HV for advice on the "right thing" to do. It makes me bloody mad.

BF training wasn't optional in my HV course but was only two hours - half of which covered anatomy and physiology of the breast! The rest of the training is meant to be "on the job". Sadly, some students get idiots like the HV CKMUM has. So - consequently they learn bugger all. This doesn't mean they cannot update themselves - too many of them don't though. Shocking when you consider how vulnerable us Mums are in those early post-natal days. I spend half my time apoplectic with rage when I hear the advice given by some HVs (including some I work with). Then of course I give conflicting information by often advising the complete opposite of what the other HV has said. AAAGGHH!

Is there some kind of professional body of HV's that we could send a list of these howlers to? What I'd like to do, is set up a thread of : Classic idiocies of HV's - please sign in, then print it off and send it to their professional body saying: "Look how much faith your client group has in you - please sort it out."

Any mileage in that?

Community Practitioners and Health Visitors Association, part of the MSF union. Based in London. I asked their press officer once why some HVs (not my own lovely one) were so ill-informed. And he said, oh, they don't get protected time for learning. Well knock me over with a feather duster, but isn't it their professional responsiblity to keep up to date? Doesn't take much bloody effort to open a journal occasionally.

I thank you for your kind appreciation of the snakes theory of HV training, btw.

well also it's not just protected learning time or whatever. Saying that bf is like sweets is just wrong - she was never, ever taught that, anywhere - she's just made it up for the sake of it. Lots of what they say isn't just out of date learning, it was never a respectable opinion to begin with. This is why I was gobsmacked when i found out they are trained nurses. They talk about child-rearing as knowledgably as my plumber does. And this really doesn't do anything for the credibility of their profession.

Good point. Not sure nurse training would cover much child development. That's why HVs should have further training. Which suggests my snakes theory is correct because God knows what some of them have learned.

I like Caligula's idea of "outing" some of these HVs. Perhaps Mumsnet could do a "worst HV of the year award" where we all provide nominations and vote and then the winner gets a mention in the national press - the story that is, not the person which would be really cruel.