Why should a health visitor be so anti La Leche League?

[Reallytired]

I am breastfeeding my three week old baby and gawd is heavy going at the moment. I have sore nipples and the little lady wants to feed every hour. However the good news is that her weight gain is excellent.

I told my health visitor that I had been to a La Leche League meeting and she was quite negative about it. I can't understand why, especially as NHS support for breastfeeding is very limited.

Because she's ignorant. About breasfeeding and breastfeeding support. Most HV's are ime.

I have a La Leche League book, The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding, and it's an infuriating book - on the one hand it's enormously helpful and detailed and gave me all the info I need to help overcome minor bf problems (which could have turned major if I hadn't had the info), on the other it seems to imply that if you bf you will therefore automatically be a particular type of parent, ie very attachmenty, and will want to co-sleep, use particular forms of discipline etc. If I assumed that the whole of the LLL were like that I might be wary.
However, I can't see why a HV should be negative about YOU going to an LLL meeting if you liked it and it worked for you. Sparkle may well be right.

I found The Womanly Art infuruating too, but mainly because my copy was American and it just annoyed me! It is slanted to attachment parenting and I can see how that can irritate and cause concern about local meetings, but in terms of technical bf support I think they're really up there. I've never been to a meeting myself, but then I'm damn sure most HV's haven't either

I had a bad experience with LLL - I was the only person there with a newborn (all the rest had toddlers) and they were very judgy when I gave DS his dummy and even more so when I mentioned that I sometimes let DD watch CBeebies!

I found the NHS support group far more helpful.

My town has an nhs breastfeeding cafe the other side of town that 1.30pm to 3pm. The part of town where it is held there is no parking so I would have a half an hour walk. I would also miss half the meeting as I would have to pick my son up from school.

I want something social, not just merely breastfeeding support. I want to stay for the whole meeting and have time to drink tea and eat biscuits.

The health visitor's reply is that its really aimed at first time mothers. At least LLL meetings are at a sensible time of day ie. 10 to 12 in the morning. LLL reconcises that not all mothers have one child.

IMO get your support where on from whom you can - and if one meeting is more suitable for logistical reasons than another AND you get on well there, then go! And sod anybody who feels it is their place to make stupid remarks.
I was lucky with good NHS support, went to LLL only once as I found the group was held too far away and the mothers there were all BFing toddlers whilst I had a new'un. Just did not feel I fit in - TBH, was a bit too letil-weavery for me, too , but that's just me. Disclaimer: some of my best friends go to LLL meetings .