Sorry Midge I should have said "he".
Tigermoth - as to support. Well more info in health clinics (ie more than just posters), perhaps a more detailed leaflet, much more info in antenatal classes such as a whole class dedicated to it. In my class the breastfeeding info consisted of us all passing round various maternity bras! If a breastfeeding mum could be persuaded to come in to show the others how to do it this would be ideal as many of us have never seen anyone actually doing it. Otherwise a video would be useful as so much of the technique is down to positioning. Perhaps a breastfeeding counsellor could come in to give a talk.
OK that is the first stage in order to prepare the mum. She should also purchase a good quality electric pump. This may seem expensive (approx £35) but when you consider the costs of formula + bottles etc it is not much. Expressed milk doesn't need to be stored in special containers although these can be bought. Any clean and sterilised small container will do. Other useful devices are breast shells which can be fitted over the other breast whilst feeding. These catch the drips (maybe 1/2 an ounce at a time)which prevent making a mess and of course this can be kept to feed to your baby. I found I could collect quite a lot like this over the course of a day.
After the birth try to put baby to breast as soon as poss as apparently this helps with the baby learning how to b/feed. Why I have been banging on about support in hospital so much is because this is where everything goes pear shaped. I'd guess that about 80% of women want to b/feed but by the time they leave hospital only 66% are doing so and this has dropped to 42% by six weeks (largely because supply wasn't established properly and a host of other difficulites). In other words starting off the process in those first few days is critical to the success of breastfeeding.
This is also why I haven't recommended formula in the early weeks not because I think it is "bad" or anything but because every time a bottle is given it is one less time at the breast. Those signals aren't sent to your brain and the milk is not produced. The next time you feed your baby you have less milk so supplements are given and so on, it getting worse at each time. This is why a lot of women don't have enough milk. It is not a direct fault in the woman. Of course there are exceptions in the case of prems and so on but generally speaking we shouldn't need to give supplements if everything is working correctly. I had to do so and I know a lot of people do but I realise in retrospect it was down to me getting off a bad start. I was in hospital for 4 days and those 4 bad b/feed days meant nearly 6 weeks of difficulty afterwards.
Of course mixed feeding is fine after about 2/3 months.
So the support that should be given in hospital is access to a good pump (I was actually denied this). Insist on this. This is essential even if you don't want to carry on. Some women probably find they don't like the sensation of b/feeding and may wish to stop. The pump can help them to draw off the milk and lessen the discomfort and prevent infections.
Infections are largely due to milk pooling in the breast because it is not being drawn off by the baby quickly enough. The situation of blocked ducts, mastitis, blood and pus etc should never occur and it terrible that women are being subjected to this. Imagine you are sitting needing the toilet and you are told to just hang on for hour after hour with your bladder filling up and no way of releasing it. Well it is not much different for your breasts. As you milk comes in around day 2/3 your boobs are fit to burst - you must get this out either by baby or a pump. I know drugs are given to prevent milk production for those not wanting to b/feed but it is much quicker to pump in conjunction with these.
I know staff in hospitals are very busy but the way I saw it they seem to spend far too much time weighing the baby, taking it's blood sugar (which involved lengthy processes of drawing blood via the heel (and much screaming of baby) instead of concentrating on the process of feeding the baby itself. Because my baby wasn't latching on well his sugar levels dropped and he was given formula milk. It is much easier for this staff to get a bottle out of the cupboard than to sit with you and help you with the baby. Yes of course formula milk is a viable alternative but with this lack of support breastfeeding isn't being given a proper chance.
In any case being aware of what is happening in your body means that you can self help yourself to some extent and hopefully with the preparation beforehand you won't come into difficulties. (See my post further down about mastitis etc which explains more fully about what to do if this does occur).
Now there are plenty of circumstances where b/feeding can be difficult to start off such as the mother has had a bad birth for example. The last thing you want after someone prodding about down there is for lots of prodding on your breasts. However remember it is only for a few days and the point is that there is no going back. If you decide you don't want to do it after a few weeks then of course you can give up. However it is almost impossible to resume breastfeeding after a delay of even a few days (although re-lactation can be done but it is very difficult and time consuming (even adopted babies have been breastfed through a lot of hard work)
I do think everyone should try it even if just for the first 10 days so that the baby gets your colostrum. There should be no reason why a woman (f she wants to) shouldn't breastfeed for 6 months and maternity leave is designed for this. After that mixed feeding is possible and I think its a good idea to carry on for a year because this is the length of time that follow-on milk is necessary. Just think of the huge amount of money you'd save over the year. Formula milk is a multi-million pound industry and there was a lot of corruption when it was first introduced. Now there are WHO guidelines regarding it's marketing and advertisement. At the end of the day these industries stand to lose if more women breastfeed not to mention the dairy farmers (sorry Tigger!), bottle and teat manufacturers, manufacturers of dummies, sterilisers, and so on...
Anyway I digress ... just pointing out as I am sure we all know that these industries have a large influence on government as does any major industry. However things are a lot better than they used to be - the Cow and Gate rep at our antenatal class started off his talk by saying - all women should breastfeed!
At the end of the day it is about choice but it should be an informed choice about both methods and I feel that the choice is actually not as real as it appears to be because of the lack of info and support. This leaves most women ignorant, struggling in the dark, in pain and guilty. Then many don't even consider it for child no 2 or 3 (although as is not well known it is largely down to the baby how well he latches on and sucks). Most women I know seem to only know about the problems, not the solutions or indeed the benefits - the end product (apart from those listed on posters). It is the bit in between ie the practicalities of it that have to be further explained and promoted.