I recently found out that budget cuts are threatening the Lambeth and Southwark Milk Spot breastfeeding support groups. Numbers have already been cut but it is now planned to lose the specialist midwives and have our already overstretched health visitors take over from them. This will reduce the specialist knowledge and help available and result in sessions being cancelled. If anyone else is as upset about this as me, you can write to your MP, Local Councillor, the Head of Health Visiting Services at The Evelina, or the lead Commissioners for Women and Children at Lambeth and Southwark CCGs. My letter and some contact details below.
Dear ,
Today I visited a 'Milk Spot' where two specialist midwives and several peer supporters offer support and help to breastfeeding Mums. I've visited these several times as my baby is slow to gain weight and I have Raynaud's phenomenon, where the arteries in my nipples spasm in response to cold, cutting off the circulation very painfully. My baby also has thrush in her mouth making it painful and difficult for her to feed. This hasn't yet responded to the treatment given by my GP but at the milk spot I have been shown how to give the medication more effectively. Even with the help of the specialist midwife and her team there have been several times when I have considered stopping breastfeeding, but they have found ways for us to improve things each time we've been. As you know breastfeeding has major benefits for mums and babies and these translate into benefits for society as a whole - fewer infections in infancy, lower rates of obesity and breast cancer to name but a few. These can add up to significant savings to the NHS at a population level.
Last week my health visitor told me that not only have the number of these milk spots in Lambeth and Southwark been reduced from 9 to 12 but that it is proposed that the specialist midwives, who all hold lactation consultant qualifications will be replaced by the health visitors, who have much less specialist knowledge. This specialist knowledge is indispensable. The demand for milk spots is high and most women who attend do not have simple problems - those have already been dealt with by the community midwives and health visitors.
I know our health visitors would do their best to deal with these problems but they have many other responsibilities, including health and development surveillance and safeguarding issues. What concerns me most is that milk spot sessions will be cancelled much more frequently because safeguarding meetings will inevitably take priority. Not only will this be bad for breastfeeding babies and Mums, but this additional responsibility will take time away from the health visitors' other work. Will domestic violence be missed because of fewer home visits? Will referrals be delayed for children needing to see a physiotherapist or speech therapist? There will be many knock-on effects, I have no doubt. Our Health visiting teams are already overstretched and there are staff shortages in many areas.
I ask and urge you to look into this matter and do anything within your power to try and influence this decision. The current government policy of austerity is having severe and negative impacts in many aspects of healthcare and other public services, but this is one area in which Lambeth and Southwark have previously excelled and the intended changes are short sighted and will ultimately result in increased costs to individuals, the boroughs and the country.
Yours sincerely,
Meredith Robertson
Lambeth MPs:
Chuka Umunna - [email protected]
Kate Hoey - [email protected]
Helen Hayes - [email protected]
Southwark MPs
Harriet Harman - [email protected]
Neil Coyle - [email protected]
Search for your local Councillor - www.gov.uk/find-your-local-councillors
Lambeth CCG - [email protected]
Southwark CCG - [email protected]
Evelina London Children’s Hospital
St Thomas’ Hospital,
Westminster Bridge Road, London SE1 7EH