Experiences of breastfeeding/breastfeeding support in Chester

[DitaVonCheese]

Hello local Mumsnetters :)

I'm a trainee Breastfeeding Counsellor and am working on an assignment about the services and range of people that influence mothers' experiences of breastfeeding. I'd be really interested to hear from Mumsnet Mums in the area about the the things that influenced their decisions about baby feeding. It would also be good to know which shops, cafes and leisure facilities you think are particularly breastfeeding friendly.

Any thoughts on this would be very gratefully received. If you'd be happy to be quoted in an essay (anonymously, of course) then please indicate this. Many thanks!

Not sure I'll be much help as my DS is almost 10, but I BF until he was 5 months, then started to wean to bottle ready for going back to work at 6 months. As it was, he took ages to adjust to a bottle, so couldn't go back until he was 7 months (maximum maternity leave at the time).

I never found anywhere to be unfriendly to bf, but it wasn't especially easy to find places to feed either. I was very grateful to Boots on Foregate St, as they provided a proper baby changing room and a chair with a curtain you could sit on to bf. By contrast, one of the worst was Mothercare (on the Greyhound estate) was terrible, as the only place to bf was in the frickin' toilets, which is horrible! There certainly wasn't anywhere in Chester that was ideal for bf, but I made do.

I would bf in cafes, etc, if really necessary, using a scarf or something for privacy. I never found one place better or worse than anywhere else.

I did go to local bf support group for a couple of months - but found it a bit odd.

Happy for you to quote anything I put on this thread, if it's of any use to you! Good luck with the assignment.

Thanks so much for the reply! :)