Have just been talking to a friend who has newborn and was telling me that the women on her ward were not allowed to bf.

[wannaBe]

I realize that I am probably the last person who would be expected to post about this, but am somewhat at hearing this.

She had a c-section, and because it is her second child she essentially knows what she is doing and is bf.

But she said that she was the only woman on the ward who was breastfeeding, and that a number of women asked for help to bf and were told no, they had to give bottles.

Have said she should write and complain about this.

Am really because I was personally given very good bf support there six years ago, and although it didn't work out for me that isn't through any fault of the hospital.

so wtf?

If this had been after DS1, I wouldn't have believed it, but didn't enjoy my hospital experience after DS2 at all.
The MW's told me I would stop BF'ing pretty soon as wouldn't be able to cope as DS2 was so big (10lb 11oz). They also told the very young new Mom in the next bed off for "handling" her baby too much.
There wasn't an overt anti-BF stance so much as no mention of it as an option/encouragement for new mother to try it.
I was surprised, but know that I may have just caught the staff on a bad night/day.

If it's true, which I doubt, you should get the local paper involved.

There is a difference between i) poor support and encouragement for breastfeeding with formula 'pushing', all of which we know is common and ii) several women on the same ward being told they are not 'allowed' to do it, which I think is unlikely.

You're right Tiktok, of course, my experience was not the same as the OP's friend's.
However, I do wonder if that had been my first experience of motherhood whether or not I'd have had the support to BF (which I did struggle with at first with DS1). I was shocked that BF was seen as odd frankly, but I certainly did not hear anyone being told NOT to BF.

I breastfed lying down after giving birth by c section in hospital 8 years ago and 5 years ago. I don't see how I could have done it otherwise. (But then I couldn't have sat up to give a bottle of formula either). I don't think its a new thing, surely?

I'm very concerned. We are actively ttc and GWH is equally near to us as Southmead, which is where I had DS.

I was very impressed with Southmead and had a lot of BF support there, but after DS was airlifted to GWH on Saturday I was very impressed with the hospital. I said to DH when we left that if we have another child I want to give birth there. The facilities were so impressive and the staff seemed wonderful (obviously we were on paediatric ward not maternity). Now I am not so sure.

Obviously you're right Tiktok but when you're postpartum and hormonal you only hear 'you have to give a bottle'. I was certainly told I "must" and "had" to do it very soon. Extremely similar to wannabe's statement:

she said that she was the only woman on the ward who was breastfeeding, and that a number of women asked for help to bf and were told no, they had to give bottles

ie told no when asking for help and informed that I "had" to give a bottle.

The jaundice and no return to bfing is a separate and worrying- if true- matter.

Of course I was not there and I cannot be certain of what was said and by whom etc. But I am not a lier and I have no reason to make this up - why would I?

And the friend in question doesn't have reason to make it up either - of course it's possible she misheard what was said, but there are ample posts on mn to confirm how readily hospitals will give bottles over bf.

Perhaps the wording of the op is wrong, but surely if you have just given birth and have no idea what you're doing then to you no help to bf plus insistance you give bottles instead equals not allowed to bf?

Georgimama I really have no idea re the maternity care of gwh in general, I gave birth at pmh (the predecessor) six years ago and the care I received there was excellent, and presumably the staff would have moved across to the new hospital when it opened. But it was some time ago and so my experiences are not up to date iyswim.

My friend wasn't very positive about the care she received but she did also state that they were severely short staffed as lots of women had ended up with home births due to the snow and ice etc.

ps: is your ds ok?

the same happened to me, i was breastfeeding and needed help. no one came, my buzzor didnt work and when i went and asked for help they gave me formula and said 'try that'.

As a new mum i did what they said, but she puked n puked n went blue, was rushed to neo-natal for oxygen- fed bottles, even though i asked to be called down to feed her myself.

Only to find out after months of puking and screaming my daughter was allergic to milk protein.

I was disgusted and complained. I got a 'sorry'.

I spent 6 days in hospital post c-section as DS was jaundiced. I desperately wanted to breastfeed but there was no one available to help. I was given plenty of help to express milk, however. A nurse from the special care unit entered my room, without warning, on day 3. She told me that unless I gave my baby formula she would take DS into special care. We argued the toss for half an hour, with me in tears, but given I was weak from infection, exhausted and emotional I gave in. So I can very much believe that it may come across as breastfeeding "not being allowed" given my experience.

I'm due to have another c-section in 9 weeks and I am desperate to avoid a similar situation. Luckily I am still breastfeeding DS so will start expressing soon to avoid the formula pushing nurse again.

"She told me that unless I gave my baby formula she would take DS into special care"

A friend of mine had a very similar experience. She was told by MW at hospital after a CS last year that they would take her DS into care if she didn't FF, when they were struggling to BF. IMO what she needed was help and support to BF not threats!

I remember she was very upset at the time by the implication that she was a bad mum.

I had dd in Germany and had superb care and help with BF. DD was prem and in Kindertensive for a month. I stayed 5 days (Pre Eclampsia) and was told that I could apply to stay (on the wards) for up to 2 weeks.

I chose not to (lived right behind the hospital) but went in every 3 hours with EBM. They wanted me to express so they could monitor the level dd was taking, but every day (every 3 hrs) they helped me latch her on for up to 5 mins before passing me her bottle.

They helped me tube feed (may have that wrong, ummm gravity feed poss?) the first couple of days, even tho dd didnt really want/need anything so that the colostrum (sp?) got into her.

In the hosp there was a 'wikkleraum' (sp?) where all the mothers could go to express and everyone was encouraged to BF - in fact I personally saw them change the minds of at least 2 new mothers who previously had been adamant that they wouldnt.

Conversely my friend, who had a dd at the same time in UK had a horrible time of it, no assistance, no advice and was FF within a month (but I'm very proud that she kept it up for that long, she had SUCH an awful time). Her 2nd was born in Germany and she is still BF now 18 months on! Sadly she feels guilty that she wasnt able to do this for her first.......

DD is an only, and you know what, partly because if I do have another one (I'd love to) I would want to do it in Germany again, I hate the thought of a UK maternity ward.

that sounds appauling. am a but as i understood that the NHS as a whole was pro-breastfeeding in line with WHO guidelines.

upwind - am not sure about not being allowed to BF lying down. My MWs both in hospital and at home showed me how do to this since i couldnt move my legs post section and at home, my scar was sore. i was encouraged to have DS2 in bed with me (cot side up and towel between him and cot side so he couldnt roll against it)

omg lowrib by "take her ds into care" did they mean scbu? or ss?

I can believe it .When I had dd I had a very bad birth and went a bit wobbly after she was born and threw up for about 5 hours after her birth .Her dad was given formula to give her and then we were taken to the ward and asked for some help to get her latched on . The MW was very short with me and told me that I could not mess the abby around and had to stick with FF .My own midwife went mad when we got home and complained .
Also my dsis had her baby in October 5 weeks prem and BF for the first two days she was then told that if she ff she would get him home quicker .

" was told that if I couldn't get dd to latch and feed then I would have to give her formula as they were too busy to sit and talk me through bfing."
Wonder if the trust has a breastfeeding policy - would be on their website!

and i think the stories on here (first hand) show that there are women who are in effect told they're not allowed to breastfeed. You're vulnerable and in pain, and told not to be a nuisance and get your baby fed.
Makes me so grateful for my experience, which at the time I thought was fairly typical.

11 years ago, they took my ds into the nursery for a couple of hours (it was xmas eve) and despite the big sign on his cot saying ''I'm a breastfed baby'' they gave him a bottle without asking or telling me.
I slept for 8 hours straight, woke up in a panic with bursting boobies to be told ''oh, it's ok, we fed hom for you as you looked like you needed a good sleep''.
I was rather but as ds went straight back on my boob happily, I didn't feel I could whinge too much.
They meant well, apparently

fledtoscotland - this was last month and they said policy had changed, but it did happen. I was in hospital for longer than most and had time to ask several midwives about it. Hopefully it is just that hospital but it supports Wannabe's anecdote, in that there may be little consistency, in the way breastfeeding is supported, among hospitals.

""She told me that unless I gave my baby formula she would take DS into special care"

I wish, more than anything, that they had told me this. When my IUGR baby was born, the hospital was understaffed and they did not have time to get her to latch on properly. I did not realise how serious this was and that, given there was no support available for breastfeeding/expressing formula, I should have given her a bottle of formula. Instead, her blood sugar dropped so low it may have caused brain damage. She had to spend a few days in the SCBU being tube fed until her blood sugars stabilised.

While it is disgraceful that there is not sufficient support available for breastfeeding, given that is the case, formula should be reccomended in some circumstances rather than risking damage to babies.

While my baby was in the SCBU, I kept asking to be woken up so I could make my way to the other side of the hospital and attempt to breastfeed her while she was being tube fed.

They always assured me they would wake me but only once woke me on time. After missing a couple of feeds I used my mobile phone as an alarm and was told off for having it switched on. Nobody seemed to understand that it was in any way important that I tried to breastfeed her.

Once her tube had been removed, in the SCBU, I was told I was taking far too long about feeding her, that the whole nappy change, breastfeed and formula top up should never take longer than half an hour altogether. I was really stressed then that my tiny baby seemed to want to spend longer than that on the breast! The whole experience was nightmarish but I was too dazed from sleep deprivation and worry to think rationally and stand up for myself.

expressing colostrum, obviously

also, to counter the negativity of my posts below, almost every individual I came in contact with wanted to help, but most of them seemed to know very little about breastfeeding and the system did not work in my favour.

DS was born last July and the MW came and latched him on for a lying-down feed while we were recovering in the labour room. Also the MW who visited after the birth suggested I fed lying down for some rest.

Our hospital and area is a very good one for BF support though.

upwind - i can only speak of my personal experience. DS2 was born last september and they told me that they would only intervene with my permission and if he hadnt fed after 12hrs. He was in SCBU for his heart but to encourage him to feed, the MW wanted me to have skin to skin contact and i fed him lying down. I gave birth in Wishaw General in scotland where they recently got bad press for breastfeeding but i found them excellent.

Haven't read all responses to this thread, but had to post as GWH was mentioned. I had DD, now 10mo, at GWH by CS. My decision to BF was fully supported, even though she was a IUGR baby and had v low blood sugars. I would bf for ages, then 'top up' with formula until her blood sugars reached the level they were comfortable with. Then it was bf all the way (and still is).

I didn't want this thread to be the reason why someone might feel anxious about giving birth at the GWH. The staff were great all round.