Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

was shocked by the amount of bottle-feeders in hospital

737 replies

misdee · 27/02/2005 09:35

found it quite upsetting at times. my bed was by the empties 'bottle bank', so saw how many people on the ward were bottle feeding. in the 4 days i was there, there were 10 women on the ward in total, and only myself and another lady was breastfeeding. The midwives offered help to everyone, but most decided on bottles.

the reason i found it upsetting was because i didnt want dd3 to have formula but that choice was basically taken away from me whilst she was SCBU and was given formula by tube.

OP posts:
Original poster
misdee · 27/02/2005 10:21

sorry, had to go as midwife turned up. i did find it shocking, and thats my feelings on it.

just had dd3 weighed and she is above her borth weight on day 6. so my breast milk is obviously very good

OP posts:
rickman · 27/02/2005 11:00

Message withdrawn

Miaou · 27/02/2005 11:02

rickman!!

misdee, glad to hear dd3 is thriving (albeit at the expense of your sleep and sanity )

rickman · 27/02/2005 11:06

Message withdrawn

hercules · 27/02/2005 11:16

But it's okay I guess to have breasts on p3!

Caligula · 27/02/2005 11:36

Blimey Rickman, your SIL's obviously a loon!

suzywong · 27/02/2005 11:42

she sounds like a hole-in-the-sheet type of person to me

Pinotmum · 27/02/2005 11:51

pmsl

duster · 27/02/2005 11:53

I find it totally bizarre that some women have such strong opinions of breast vs bottle feeding, and can be so judgemental of others - I'm referring to the likes of Rickmans SIL. We don't make such judgements about the brand of nappy other's use, nor type of buggy/pram/pushchair. Why do some people feel not only the need to justify their free choices, but also condemn those who make different choices? Is it cause some women think those who do/don't bf are damaging the baby?
FWIW, my attitude to bf was, well, I'd like to,but if it's too much work, sod it. Actually I look back and realise I've been very lucky to find it easy. What's sad is that if I'd needed support I wouldn't have got it, as IME the midwives etc were rushed off their feet, and too busy to find time to help me. My ds did have formula in hosp, so it was a miracle I managed to bf at all! I wish I'd seen more mums bfing in hosp, I think I was the only one who was going to give it a go out of I think 7 of us.
PS suzywong - what is a hole-in-the-sheet person??!! Am i being thick? More like a hole-in-the-brain person also?! And BTW, my thighs haven't forgiven you for the delicious ice cream recipe!

daisy1999 · 27/02/2005 11:57

well said duster.
Everyone to their own.

suzywong · 27/02/2005 12:00

Oh did you try it? Good.

hole-in-the-sheet...... I am libelously implying she has her conjugals through a hole in the sheet so as not to get soiled (sorry it's nearly past the watershed over here)

Original poster
misdee · 27/02/2005 12:01

do you think that some mothers would try breastfeeding if they removed the formula in the hospital except for medical purposes?

OP posts:
Gobbledigook · 27/02/2005 12:01

You ARE joking?

blueteddy · 27/02/2005 12:02
Shock
Cristina7 · 27/02/2005 12:03

"We don't make such judgements about the brand of nappy other's use, nor type of buggy/pram/pushchair."

Err, are you sure? I've been on MN for a month now and have to say I haven't come across this yet but had plenty of that on another board I used to go to.

suzywong · 27/02/2005 12:03

yes I'm sure they would, coupled with dedicated BF supporters, volunteers or BF counsellors who DID have the time and expertise and patience to help mothers out with the learned skill of BF, that's an interesting poing

Original poster
misdee · 27/02/2005 12:03

its a seious question. if they had to rpovide their own formula from the word go would it make a difference at all.

id didnt know hospitals provided formula till i had dd2.

OP posts:
rickman · 27/02/2005 12:05

Message withdrawn

Cristina7 · 27/02/2005 12:07

I think bringing in your own formula wouldn't make a difference at all. After all, people who don't give BF a go don't do it so they get a freebie from the hospital for a couple of days. There will also be a number of mums who have their babies before they've packed the bag or may not have a partner to go and do the shopping for formula for them etc. I'm all for better advice, though. In my 7 days in shopital with my first the advice changed depending on the MW shift.

Gobbledigook · 27/02/2005 12:07

Er, what happened to freedom of choice? What if you just don't want to breastfeed for whatever reason that might be? Do you honestly believe that a child that is formula fed is worse off in some way than those that are breast fed? At 5 years old could you pick those who breast fed out of line up????? I very much doubt it.

biglips · 27/02/2005 12:07

i planned to BF my baba but only lasted 2 days coz i went into pieces, as when my baba was born she was big (9lb 1oz) and she sucks very hard, one of my nipples ended up with a brown crust on it from baba sucking that hard, i ended up very tearful as i didnt wants to bf baba whenever she was hungry as i felt like running away from her so i tried once more and counted to 20 seconds and was in tears again then thats when i decided to go on bottles (my nipples are very sensitive so that didnt help feeding baba) but at least i fed her all the important stuff from the breast.

collision · 27/02/2005 12:08

My ds was in SCBU for a week and was fed by a tube through the nose. It was formula as my milk hadnt come through. The good thing about it is that they only get the full feeling and dont taste it or get too used to a bottle and I was still able to BF successfully.

Gobbledigook · 27/02/2005 12:08

I agree that there should be as much support as possible for those who want to breast feed and it's important to give women all the information available to make their own choice but when it comes down to it, that's just what it is, their OWN choice - nobody elses. Why does everyone care so much what other women choose to do with regard to feeding, working, giving birth....get on with bringing up your own children and let everyone else get on with bringing up theirs.

Poshpaws · 27/02/2005 12:10

My Mil was shocked at this as well, misdee. When she went to visit Dh's cousin in hospital and ALL the mothers were giving formula, with the hospital providing it.

Must admit, not bothered myself. Was wondering though that if the mothers were bothered, would they have simply refused? So I assume they WANTED to bottle feed or their milk had not come through yet (mine did not come through for about 2 weeks and even then...).

Did any of them openly express a desire to b/f? Not arguing, just wondering...

suzywong · 27/02/2005 12:12

You're absolutely right there biglips
sorry it didn't work out the way you planned but you can be sure your dd got some of the good stuff in those first two days

GG, I understand your comment about freedom of choice, and I think I speak for all posters on this thread, we have the freedom to discuss that choice. It's pretty clear this is a pro bf thread for the most part, we don't want to make judgements about those choices but try and understand if any other factors while in hospital may have influenced that choice.