Best ways to help new mothers begin breastfeeding?

[duchesse]

A place for people's ideas on how to manage the fine line between promotion and pushing, between being realistic about what BFing is like and being offputting. How best to support people through what is an emotional and difficult time?

i think the vast majority of mums already do start breastfeeding.

the lack comes from the support and information they are given by midwives in the hospital, and HV's and GP's once they are home.

i think the biggest single thing that could be done would be proper breastfeeding training for all health professionals, and I think midwives should have to keep up to date with current guidelines etc.

in fact actually, I think it would be fab if every maternity unit had a dedicated breastfeeding counsellor (or several!). It would take some of the stress off the midwives, and mums would be getting proper tips and advice.

Totally agree with thisisyesterday.

No support at all when you get home - it is rotten. Women need someone who can sit for hours with them, helping them. And a more realistic picture of what bfing is really like, not the rose-tinted shite in NHS leaflets.

Peer support in particular.

I second what thisisyesterday said about training midwives. I was lucky enough to have a great NCT bf counsellor before giving birth the first time, and she and her colleague had trained some of the midwives in the local hospital (Royal Hants) as breastfeeding support workers. Absolutely invaluable! made starting the whole process much easier, and one of the reasons why I have chosen to go back there to have no. 2 in April. Also the same bf counsellor provided telephone advice afterwards, which I took advantage of at various stages. Managed to feed DS till he was 14 months and decided he wanted to stop!

I was so impressed that I actually went back when DS was tiny to do a bf demo to the counsellor's next group of expectant mums. Would do it again in a second.

Agree with this is yesterday, midwives who really know what they're talking about and who are encouraging and supportive. Also access to lactation consultants / excellent bfcs if things are really difficult.

Actually, I think an automatic visit from a breast feeding counsellor on day 3/4 with follow ups in milk hasn't come in would be a pretty good start.

Lists of all local breast feeding clinics/ support services etc to be given to women antenatally and then again on discharge from hospital.

Great idea for a thread

Totally agree with midwife training/ automatic visit from a bf counsellor (if the midwife is well trained shouldn't need the bf counsellor).

Perhaps tell people that their nipples may get sore/bleed, but if that happens GET SOME HELP, there is an underlying problem.

Unless a GP has been fully trained on breastfeeding they should be forced to consult an expert/refer mothers to an expert before making recommendations relating to breastfeeding.

Better provisions for dealing with tongue-tie, perhaps a frenulotomy service on the post natal ward.

Adopt the full WHO code on marketing of breastmilk substitutes.

Sorry, that shouldn't read that bf counsellors would be obsolete, just that midwives are visiting anyways at 1/3/5 days postnatally and should therefore be able to deal with problems /make recommendations for bf counsellor to visit if necessary.

What about getting a Doula?

I found that the worst thing about the advice I got (in hospital and for weeks afterwards) was the astonishing inconsistency - and the certainty with which completely contradictory advice was delivered.

I would have much preferred midwives etc. to be honest about what their suggestions were based on: whether that's NHS guidelines, or their own experiences. We're not stupid, and I'd much rather hear a midwife make suggestions that she admits she's not completely certain will work, but have proved helpful in her experience, than have her insist there's only one way to skin a cat and that it definitely shouldn't hurt. (Which it did, and I wasn't doing it wrong, and it got better. As another midwife said it would.) At least then we might stand some chance of being able to weigh up the competing bits of advice against each other.

But this is probably just a longwinded way of saying yes - more support, and MORE TRAINING for the people providing the support.

No use just approaching the women -- it's their silly relatives and especially mothers, MILs and often their partners who need to be sat down and have things explained in detail to them. A lot of time it's ignorant families that sabotage even the best intentions of a mother.

well i am hoping myself and my new colleagues will be able to make a difference to new mums in worcestershire.

we have just been appointed as 'breastfeeding support workers' for the nhs in worcestershire, and we will be supporting women in the community through home visits from discharge until baby is 6 weeks old. We have all been peer supporters for several years and they have now found some money to pay us to work in the community. It's really exciting and i think it will make a big difference

Just harking back to my early bfing days and the remarks of my exMIL -- was very glad I didn't live anywhere near her and she visited us only once. Still, I had to talk my exH into the idea that this was a good thing to do. His family's ignorance shocked me, frankly. ExMIL effectively forced my exSIL to stop after 3 months with her constant negative remarks about the baby being spoiled or turning into a pervert.

I think the home visits are very important, but the visitors need to talk with the people around the mum and gauge their attitudes when they're in the home. Babies cry whether bottle or bfed late afternoon/early evening was when mine used to have a crying jag, and exH used to also throw a tantrum if his dinner showed no sign of being ready just around this time too. He was raised in a home where everything revolved around the men not sure how typical this is, but I think there are men who have an unrealistic idea of how life is with babies around.

Definitely better training and lots of myth busting for midwives, health visitors and GPs

Speaking of it in terms other than just food - so many people say 'she can't be hungry, she's just fed, she's using you as a dummy, it's just a comfort thing...so?

Visits from breastfeeding counsellors - in hospital, at home and at regular times. Baby cafes are excellent but I found it impossible to get to one during the first 2 weeks which is when it would have been most useful to get the advice.

Better information on safe co sleeping

But moreover -society normalising breastfeeding - not just the actual act but the nature of feeding i.e. not just showing someone on tv etc. breastfeeding but showing them feeding frequently, discretely, 10 minutes after they just fed, in different positions, feeding older babies etc. all without making a big deal of it.

Thought of one more

Direct all new parents to Mumsnet!!!

thesecondcoming - thankyou

afaik (haven't started yet) we will visit all mums who were breastfeeding when they were discharged from hospital. we will be working alsongside the community midwives, and i think we will be visiting women every week until baby is 6 weeks old, more often if they are having problems. I am really looking forward to starting, and i think it's exactly what is needed to help women to succeed at breastfeeding. I don't know if they have plans to roll it out anywhere else, i guess it probably depends on our success (measured on whether we improve rates of breastfeeding at 6weeks). It is a 2yr contract as they don't know if they will have the funding to continue it, but i'm hoping that they will see it is a valuable, and well used service and worth carrying on/rolling out accross other areas.

mathanxiety - completely agree. I have suggested to the infant feeding co-ordinators that it would be a good thing to speak to the dads at the antenatal classes about breastfeeding, so they know what to expect, and so they know how best to support their OH's/where to go for help if needed.

Just out of interest, duchesse, did you start this thread just in response to the crazy 'breast cancer advert' one on AIBU, or because you are a professional wanting to promote bf?

While feeding my son for the 4th (or so) time last night, I was thinking about this, and how you could promote breastfeeding as being a great idea [ironic smiley with bags under the eyes]

Personally I think approach of listing health benefits for mother and child does nothing to address the concerns of those who choose not to bf or who have mixed feelings. For those who really want to but have difficulty, then practical support, not 'promotion' is needed.

So, if I was designing a government ad for breastfeeding, I'd do a talking heads thing, e.g.

• mother saying "no-one in my family breastfed, but I thought "It's what my body was designed to do and why should I spend £x on formula?" "
• mother latching on and feeding fat healthy baby in cafe and describing how when he was little he used to waggle his head around madly, make comedy noises and pull away from the boob in infuriating yet sometimes hilarious way (no one tells you about this) Demonstrating by example that babies grow out of this, also that feeding in public is no big deal as you can't actually see anything.
• mother feeding baby in the park, cute toddler romping around, describing how she bottle fed first child but decided to give bf a go with the second, and once you get into it it's much simpler since no faffing around with warming bottles etc. when you go out, and how it's a lovely bonding thing.
• mother who found it painful at the start but asked for and got lots of help in hospital (since government advert, couldn't mention the generally rubbish state of bf support in hospitals).
• father talking about some difficulties of being a new dad (can feel a bit excluded at the start) and how he's glad his daughter is getting the best food she can (could bring in some of the health things here in a stereotypical 'men like facts' way).

Somewhere also should be stated that many women find that despite pigging out on cake they still lose weight breastfeeding (would need careful handling as government not wanting to promote unhealthy eating but a strong selling point for many).

And absolutely no mention of breast cancer WHATSOEVER.

I started in what I felt was the right forum for information-gathering and actually helping people, with a much calmer tone than that other place. I just remember that I found MN when I was at a very low ebb bleeding repeatedly in pregnancy and looking for answers, and frankly a thread of that sort would have scared me more than informed me. And I don't scare easily.

Just finished feeding the baby.