HV has told my heavily preg sister that Aptamil is as good as breast feeding

[puffylovett]

apart from not having the immunological factors. They were handed a sheet of paper that compared all the formulas to bfing and Aptamil came out as the closest. At the same ante natal class the HV was also promoting mixed feeding in order to get baby sleeping through the night.

Not entirely sure why I'm posting - at the end of the day it's her right to choose how to feed her baby. However, she is more inclined to listen to that advice than to listen to me (by my own admission a militant lactator !) talking about all the benefits of bfing, and why it's best not to top up if you can avoid it (unless you want to of course!!) and it upsets me that the HV can almost be so blase about downplaying the benefits of breast feeding.

Anyway I'd like to be able to point her to some additional info on the benefits of bfing and other than various posts here and good old kellymom, can anyone recommend any good internet sites ?

[puffylovett]

yes, thats what i thought - although it doesn't sound like a recommendatrion per se, more a comparison. dying to get my hands on it, will update you in a few days when i see her next.

[ruddynorah]

they aren't allowed because they would only be making a guess.

[Wallace]

My HV said they are not allowed to recommend one brand over another?

[MyMILisDoloresUmbridge]

Whoosh, how awful for you! Bad enough to lose your Mum but when you are pregnant! So much worse.
Incidentally, I met a lady once whose husband left her 3 weeks after she had their 3rd baby. She said her milk dried up instantly. And she had bf all three so would have been sure of what she was doing.

[puffylovett]

ah woosh, so sorry to hear og your circumstances

[tiktok]

Whoosh.....that's so sad. In a world that truly supported breastfeeding, you would have been given the option of using donor milk, and then measures taken to help you produce what milk you could.

That's not gonna happen, though

I agree - you need independent info about different formulas, but it doesn;t exist.

puffy - try and get hold of that sheet of paper if you can.

[Whooosh]

MLDU_My Mum died suddenly a month before dd was born-she was induced as she had stopped growing.
Without ff-she would have died......

[MyMILisDoloresUmbridge]

Whooosh!

[Whooosh]

I think it is all to do with timing-and I think the HV is out of order.
However (due to grief) I produce no milk or even colostrum due to grief.

I did therefore want to know the best or closest formula to breastmlk I could get.....

[MyMILisDoloresUmbridge]

Apparently you can complain to the NMC about HVs.

[lljkk]

NHS site about advantages of breastfeeding (plenty not just immunological!).

Ask.baby.com take on the pluses and minuses.

Patient.co.uk

Choosing breast or bottle, Netdoctor.co.uk. Note the bottlefeeding section is mostly about how to do it correctly, not much they can say as to health advantages, is there!?

[juuule]

I think I'd consider collecting as much info on the benefits of bf over ff and parcel it up and send it to the hv at the health centre or wherever and ask for a response. Same to the PCT that the hv works for. Would also contact NCT and ABM as has been said before. Would definitely query why people are being given this info.

[mollymawk]

This book: Our Babies Ourselves is not only about breastfeeding but is very good for showing how it is really only modern Western society that is desperately keen on independence of sleep, routine in feeding etc (the things the HV seems to be promoting formula feeding for) and that pretty much everywhere else in the world is different. I thought it was a really interesting book.

[ruddynorah]

i'm all for informed choice. this mum to be isn't being given that from her HV.

[tribpot]

Whoosh - I'm a reluctant formula feeder, having wanted passionately to bf but just not able to get it going. I do think there is a lot of ignorance about breast feeding and nonsense like puffy's sister's HV's comments don't help at all.

I quite agree that she should make a choice about how to feed her baby, but it should be informed; and being 'informed' that mixed feeding can work from the start (which is unlikely) from what is regarded as a 'health care professional' is misleading and not informative.

I see no value in being given info about which formula is closest to breast milk, and am quite surprised a hospital was prepared to make such a bold claim.

[lljkk]

It's not about choice, though, it's about the information given to make that choice. Puffylovett's sis has been given incorrect info if told the only differences are immunological. Plus, I don't think HVs are supposed to draw up a comparison list with an obvious conclusion to it, I bet even SMA or Farley's would have a lot to say about that.

[puffylovett]

i also know of another mother who attended the same ante natal classes a couple of months ago who came away very upset with the impression that ffing was actually BETTER for her baby than bfing... needless to say she gave up bfing after about 4 weeks due to reflux and other probs... again, encouraged by hv...

i really just want my sister to be properly informed and not to purely rely on this sort of info without questioning it first ! but she's very stubborn and yes iris, i think in her case the HV is very powerful

[Whooosh]

Surely,most educated people-or even those who just read the odd magazine must realise that breast is best.

However it is a matter of choice and I do resent mothers being Bullied into breatfeeding as mcuh as formula feeding being promoted....

[iris66]

There were only 6 of us who bf out of 20 at our an/pn group & I was just gobsmacked to hear the HV saying to each bf mum that they should formula feed at night to get their LOs to sleep (Including me - what a load of bloody tosh - oh how I snorted!). I can't go on as this just makes me sooooooo mad. HV's just seem to be so misinformed!!!!! The other bf mums I spoke to had never heard of growth spurts or cluster feeding! HV's are so powerful aren't they - particularly to first time mums.
LaLeche may be able to help - or why not point her to this site?!

[puffylovett]

BTW I'm not trying to spark off the whole bfing / ffing debate again - just to make that clear !!!!

thanks guys

[worleyhurley]

agree with ruddynorah. how can we get the message across about bf being normal/natural/the best when the hv promot's ff?
can you complain the gp practice she is attached too?

[maisym]

check out www.promom.org/101/

she's not giving correct info here - don't know who to complain to about this though.

[ruddynorah]

fucking hell.

get a copy of the sheet and send it to NCT or ABM who will deal with it.