They are getting rid of the NHS BF advisor in my area

[HumphreyCobbler]

for no apparent reason

I have written to the Chief Exec to complain and now have the chance to speak at a patient feedback panel to the person who has made this decision.

I really want to state my case strongly, this bf advisor has saved breasfeeding for so many women. She is truly brilliant at her job, but terribly overworked as she is the only one covering a very large area.

There is to be no alternative provision

They should be giving her a medal - instead they are getting rid of her. I am very pissed off.

Are there any new bf initiatives I could quote? Any other ideas?

That is a great point Hunker as I think the work of an NHS breastfeeding support worker out in the community as opposed to hospital based is about sustaining bf more than initiation (although often before 6 weeks).

Good luck HC. I don't know much about breast feeding (other than that I am bfing DS and have been for nearly 6 months) or the NHS... but I do know a bit about persuading people through evidenced based examples which may be useful to consider when preparing your presentation to the panel.

I suspect their main objective by getting rid of this lady is financial. There are two factors you may wish to explore here:

1. Increased costs as a result of lower take up or shorter periods of breast feeding. ie the medical effects on children who are not breast fed and the resulting cost to the NHS.

For example, there is evidence (which you will need to cite specifically where your research has come from) that non-bf children suffer more gastric problems which means increased hospital treatment at a cost of X. Longer term conditions as a result of not breast feeding, such as the increased rates of obesity in non bf children and the estimated cost to the NHS (again you will need to have robust examples and stats to back this up)

1. The other financial implication is that they may have reduced funding if they do not achieve certain targets, which is an inverted cost if you like. Again you will need to get some evidence together and do some number crunching.

Tiktok and HunkerMunker have some excellent source material for you but if you need any help putting together a presentation let me know and I'll do my best to help.

Apologies if I have overstepped the mark, or waffled on (it is late and I need to get to bed before DS wakes up for a night feed).

post a link if you set up a petition and I will certainly sign it.

I couldn't get DS bfing properly, despite the help of about 4 MWs until the BFing expert came to see me, checked with her finger for a tongue-tie (which DS had, despite 3 other MWs telling me he hadn't) and showed me different ways to get him to latch on as well as he could (lying side by side was the only one that worked for us to start with). COuldn't have done it without her - no one else had the expertise to deal with the situation properly. Am extremely to hear that this is being overlooked, downplayed in importance and generally shuffled out the back door.

Good luck - and don't forget the petition!

You might want to check that the PCT are aware of this. The BF specialists I've come across have been employed by the hospital.

The hospital and PCT have very different health agendas. Put simply the PCT tends to focus on long term and public health. They commission the hospital to provide care. It is the PCT generally that long term health targets are linked to , not the hospital. For this reason it may be more in the interests of the PCT to fund the post rather than the hospital.

The PCT may not be aware of it but need to know ( I don't know if MSLC sits across both hospital and PCT).

I'm also sure that somewhere there will be health economics calculations to support the post. eg post costs £45k a year but means x number of babies are BF which prevents y cases of admissions to hospital / disease later in life. It's about investing now to save later. Most public health issues are.

Send the chief exec a copy of politics of breast feeding?

Non-specialists can not support mothers or other HCPs in the same way. For a start the HVs would have to get off that fence they seem to enjoy siting on.

I'd be happy to sign your petition if you post back.

Hey, thanks so so much all of you. This is all brilliant.

I went along to a patient feedback panel last night and met the woman who is responsible for this decision. It seems that so many people have already written supporting the BF advisor that she is badly rattled and denied to me that she ever intended the post to disappear (this is not true) but that "Obviously she couldn't comment on individual members of staff". I think she has realised that she has bitten off more than she could chew tbh, she had no idea of the support engendered by this excellent counsellor. I am, however, badly worried that she will still try to get rid of the actual person, even if the post is still there. A post is only as good as the person holding it. Also the attitude she has displayed towards supporting breastfeeding so far does not bode well.

I asked for a patient panel to be held dealing specifically with breastfeeding issues, which was agreed to, although they asked me to put my request in writing.

I am terribly grateful for all the information, I will be making full use of it at the next panel and in further letters of support. I think I will wait and see what happens next before setting up a petition as if the post is staying but not the woman I will want to word it differently. Hopefully it won't be necessary and she will now be staying.

Good on you, Humphrey!

Bf counsellor made all the difference to me when dd was little and struggling with hypotonia.

It beggars belief that one stupid person can make this sort of decision. Makes me so angry.

Good for you for taking this on - let us know how it goes.

Go, Humphrey, go!!
I am glad you got more evidence based support on here .
Pretty please, were can I sign a petition?

Well done HC