WHAT CAN BE DONE TO INCREASE BREAST FEEDING RATES IN THE UK.

[lissie]

we all know that postnatal care is a huge factor, but what else can be done?

i speak as a failed bf-er who will try again with every baby i have, but supports the mothers right to choose.

I went to a NCT breastfeeding workshop before my due date. They painted a very rosy picture of it IMO, didn't mention any of the pitfalls, they don't need to go into too much detail but maybe should make mums aware of the potential problems.

Fio (hi ) I found The Womanly At of Breastfeeding by LLL good (dreadful title, and written for US audience, but good sensible advice in the main). that you couldn't get a workshop place. Do you have my email? We can advise each other

abra, that's a reservation I have about feeding rooms. They don't really have them here in Germany, but a) over here they're less big on 'facilities' of all kinds than in the UK b) the culture in general is more tolerant of bf in public (although I have been asked if I would be 'more comfortable doing that somewhere else' ). I suppose I feel if bf is shut away in a feeding room as if it were going to the toilet or something, 'normalisation' in the culture will take longer.

Must stop, getting dizzy (am anaemic and it is unbearably hot. 38°C forecast for today).

yogimum - are you sure it was an NCT workshop??? It might have been a workshop, but we don't 'do' workshops uness you mean a class as part of an antenatal class. At least, I have never heard of an NCT breastfeeding workshop.

When you facilitate a breastfeeding class as an NCT bfc, you cannot cover all the potential problems because you do not have time, because people will not remember, and because no one experiences all the problems! The main aim of a class is to increase confidence so people understand the way breastfeeding works, which will actually avoid many of the problems (eg thinking there is not enough milk and using formula, because the baby doesn't feed to a schedule), and understand how to avoid soreness by enabling the baby to be positioned comfortably. Both of these will be covered in every class - if you say they weren't, then you have forgotten!!

In addition, the bfc will make sure the parents know how to get help if they need it, and will give them the opportunity to look ahead and discuss where their particular challenges may lie (eg a MIL who wants to feed the baby, or shyness about bf in public).

If you get through all of this in a class, you are pretty well prepared. What else do you think you need to know when you are still pg, that you will remember?

take your points tiktok

i want the executives on the soaps to take it up as an issue, and for it to look like no biggie on the episodes itself

trouble is i don't watch soaps any more so my 'knowledge' is v out of date

it was run by the NCT, she was very thorough and very informative but your'e right workshop might be the wrong word and its difficult to cover everything in a couple of hours.

yogimum - you were at a class, then.

In two hours, she was 'thorough and informative' - what more can you ask??

You say in another post she painted a 'rosy picture' - but this is part of breastfeeding as well, the pleasure and the positives. It is not reasonable to expect this to be omitted in favour of two hours of problem-solving, imo.

tiktok, you watch too many soaps!

I agree tiktok, I guess I compared it to my maternity training and I shouldn't have. Truly sorry.

less pressure

I think Tasja has a point. It would seem from the "Why choose to breastfeed thread" that actually many people do not breastfeed for highly complex personal and social reasons and the NHS literature often just focuses on the benefits of breastfeeding, which whilst well meaning, perhaps has the effct making mums who can't or give up bf failures or just downright indignant about FF. Perhaps rates would be increased if NHS literature explained coping strategies for mums for dealing with the common problems encountered in the first 6 weeks (A troubleshooting guide) and useful answers to social criticsms about breastfeeding?

What do others think???

I agree Tasja.

When ds was birn he lost loads of weight in the first 3 days because he wouldn't take from the breast. The midwife showed me how to give him a bit of formula from the cup. When my milk came in and he was less drowsy (pethidine) I breast fed from then.

I felt much more relaxed by then and less worried. It put my mind at rest.

Pressure to bf exclusively can put women off.

great idea difers

NHS Breast feeding counsellors who will visit your house would be a start. As many visits as you need. It took me 3 weeks to get my DS to latch on and someone at the end of a phone wasn't much good as they had to SEE the baby to help. Only b/fed for 6 weeks in the end, then once a day until 3 months, would have been less stressful with expert support popping by the house.

More breastfeeding on TV too.

For mother and baby rooms they should use a symbol of a mum breastfeeding instead of a bloomin' bottle .

There is a mountain of printed material about solving bf problems as well as dealing with social issues surrounding bf - I honestly don't think we need more leaflets. Did anyone ever change what they were doing or what they felt like as a result of a leaflet - genuine question? With something as personal and individual as bf, problems need the personal touch - but that can't include more breastfeeding counsellors going into people's homes. It ain't never gonna happen - I have written before on this, but, hell, I'll do it again

Number of mothers who start off breastfeeding in the UK every year = 450,000
Number of mothers who find breastfeeding a challenge in some way, at least at first = probably 400,000
Number of trained breastfeeding counsellors from the volunteer organisations (and I stress volunteer) = maybe 600

There may be untrained people calling themselves breastfeeding counsellors (in fact, I know there are) but I assume the calls for 'more breastfeeding counsellors to visit' and so on are thinking of trained people, with some sort of supervision system and in-service training, too, yes?

So we're stuck at 600 volunteers who all have families and who almost all have other jobs, too, to visit 400,000 women?? Including the ones in, say, Northern Ireland where there are maybe 4 breastfeeding counsellors, and the Scottish isles, where there are maybe 2....

See what I mean?

No - I am of a very radical frame of mind, thinking that the people whose job it already is to support breastfeeding should be better trained, to give decent, non-judgemental and up to date information to mothers from the very start.

I'm not crazy, am I?

The only place I've ever seen clear, useful information about BF is on kellymom, which I found myself. Agree that NHS has alot of literature but I personally didn't find it very useful or informative.

tiktok, once again haven't read all the thread but to answer your quesitons, I think consistency of advice from the people who are paid to do give advice would be really good. I had so much conflicting advice from mws and hvs but the best advice I had was from the NCT counselor which was consistent with the babycafe - for the first time two opinions matched. I just really wish I had got to them before.

To answer your previous question about misconception that you have to be a member to use the NCT bf services, I really don't know what gave me the idea that I had to be a member but I know that nothing I read said I DIDN'T have to be a member, so perhaps next to the telephone number on your website and leaflets and other literature, you could put something like "open to non-members" and make sure mw are telling people what help is open to them.

I agree that we don't need another leaflet but it would be helpful to understand how hard it is in the first few weeks. All I was told for the first few weeks is that "it takes 6 weeks to get established" and I honestly didn't know what that meant.

twofalls - I agree with you about 'getting established'....it's mystifying. Does it mean 'to build up to being sufficient' or 'stop hurting' or 'to flow when the baby asks for it'....or what?

I think it means nothing of any use!

I do use the term 'established breastfeeding' though, but I mean 'when all initial problems are sorted and you and your baby are doing it without thinking much about it' but I try not to use it with new mums or they end up confused.

That process can take as little as a couple of feeds or as long as several months, anyway.

I think we prob should have 'open to all' or something on our bf stuff, to avoid people thinking this member thing.

by terramum on Sat 14th July 21.33

......formula should only be available on prescription....

Get a grip please, think about the reality of that sort of power being wielded by NHS, target driven, gatekeepers.

You're effectively saying that GP's should be allowed to dictate the post natal lifestyle of all new mums !

I formula fed both of my children, my children, my body, my choice.

You presumably breastfed your children. Good on you, I have no desire to dictate how you run your life.

agree that fm on prescription is not the way to go. the important thing is making women comfortable with bf, not taking away other options.

Formula on prescrip. is a bad idea, sorry....daft to put infant feeding decisions and choices in the hands of GPs, who are not trained and who (in many cases) do not have a clue. Mothers should decide for themselves, with decent info to make it an informed decision.

I had problems with the latch with all my babies. This time I knew it was wrong but couldn't sort it out. The mw who visited the first time just told me not to hold my breast away from DDS nose and gave me a leaflet.

I'm one of those odd people who doesn't like using the phone. A list of numbers with no idea of what time is the best to ring; whether I'm ringing someone whose main job is advising bf women or who might be doing something else; I just got in such a panic that I didn't call anyone and just struggled.

If not able to visit people, a feasible option would be a drop-in centre that bf women with problems could go to. I'm sure there are some somewhere, but not here.

agree totally, more women would bf with better support/information, rather than isolating those who for whatever reason don't/can't bf work on why. fix the cause not the result.

I think additional paternity leave on decent pay would help. I have no family nearby, and really, really struggled when my partner had to return to work, working long shifts after 2 weeks at home. I had not properly established breastfeeding by that point.

formula on prescription? LOL! What will people think about?!