Things HCP should know about.....

[TruthSweet]

What things would you like to tell HCPs about breast/bottle feeding?

Here's mine:-

A breastfeed of 5 mins does not 'contain' a 1/3 of a feed which last 15 mins. Breasts do not deliver x mls a minute so you cannot judge how a feed went by how long it went on for.

Do NOT vigorously shake EBM and then complain about fat lumps getting stuck in the NG tube. You just tried to make breast milk butter .

The aim of formula feeding is not to try to cram as much milk in a baby as possible, it is to feed a baby how much milk THEY want. It is not a good idea to force feed babies unless you want baby to be sick .

It is not a 'fantastic idea' to feed a very sick baby bottles made from pre-boiled then cooled water with those Tommee Tippee powder containers in them. Especially if 6 of them were made up the previous night and then brought in to hospital for use over the next day. I am guilty of doing this and am just grateful that DD1 didn't get anything from this, particularly as the hospital room was about 35C!

Pumping output is not indicative of supply.

It is not all about the mother's needs when a toddler/child/6 week old is breastfed.

Breastmilk does have a nutritional value past a year. On day 366 breast do not start producing water. If that was the case what would happen on a Leap year? Would the change over happen on day 367?

It's day 368 actually

No I totally agree with all that you have said.

And all though formula is completely necessary for those who can't/won't breastfeed, "give the baby a bottle" is a phrase I don't want to hear from a HCP supposedly helping a mum who wants to bf - it is really undermining. Or from a Paeditrican talking about a 1 day old baby

I would like a HCP to go around to a new mum's house and tell her DP and other family - "This mum needs to rest and recover from the birth, she should be concentrating on that and feeding the baby. All of you make sure mum is well fed, and is resting. The housework can wait - or better still" with a steely eyed glare at the DP "YOU do it!"

That every formula is the same, so it is unprofessional to 'recommend' one brand over another.

That it is fine for a mother to change formula brands weekly if her baby doesn't react well to the one they are on.

Mothers are better off choosing a formula brand based on the one available at their local corner shop.

All mothers benefit from skin to skin contact.

All mothers need to be taught how to hold their baby close and to feed with attention.

All mothers can be taught the importance of feeding on request.

If you think breastfeeding should be limited to a number of 'sides' a number of minutes or have concerns over fore/hind milk balance...you are not an expert in this field, rather than give inaccurate information to a mother, pass her onto another member of your team who is an expert on breastfeeding. Failing this pass the mother onto the charity helpline with volunteer but properly trained BFC.

Breastfeeding is a skill, which needs to be learnt both by the baby and the mother and can take time to get right. Mother needs confidence in order to learn.

Learn to look at the baby not the red book growth chart. If the baby looks healthy and has good outputs, they are highly likely to be fine whatever the book says.

That just because a new Mum is vegetarian and has lost weight quickly (mainly water by the look of me at 39 weeks!! ) does not mean her milk is not 'good enough' and that she will need to top up after each feed. Yes, I was actually told this with DD!) Still makes my angry that I didn't know any better and listened to her... (I know better this time round! )