Breast is best - no it’s not actually.

[bubblesforlife]

I’m a new mom, my baby was born last weekend.
I followed feeding guidelines, listened to professional advice, and decided to breast feed my baby.

A few days in, my baby has developed jaundice and low sodium. This is due to dehydration and no fluids.

I gave my Baby colostrum, by breast and syringe regularly.

I asked my visiting midwife if I should supplement feeding with formula until my milk came in, she said no I am doing the best by my baby. Not unless there is a clinical need.

Now we’re readmitted for 2 nights minimum and placed on as strict baby formula feeding plan.

2 other ladies in the ward also have dehydrated babies for the same reason as me. How does this happen all the time yet no one talks about it?

Breast is best? No. Starve your baby until your milk comes in, and then hope for the best that you’re on for the lucky ones it works for.

My milk came in on day 3, a normal timeline.!

The messaging is wrong to mothers. This is so very common according to hospital.

Breast is best..... eventually.... but feed your baby what it needs, if that’s a supplement of formula, so what.

I don’t know what I’m trying to say, but I’m just so upset. No one told me I was starving my little newborn. I did my best, I tried so hard and sat there filling syringes of colostrum.

Something has to change here. The pressure placed on new mothers throughout pregnancy to breast feed is wrong.

I hope my baby recovers soon so we can go home and be a family.

@AccidentallyOnPurpose

A lot of posters are missing the point.

Yes,breastfeeding works for a lot of mothers. The issue is that when it doesn't, those mothers get ignored,egged on to keep at it, and any issues explained away. It's this stance that can be very harmful to babies and their mothers.

Acknowledging and accepting that no,it doesn't always work won't actually harm anyone.

At the end of the day what's worse? A baby being fed formula unnecessarily or a baby ending up in hospital poorly when it could've been easily prevented?

I think this misses the point, actually.

I agree that being ignored, told meaninglessly to "keep trying" or having issues explained/excused away (without any effort to actually work out what's caused them or whether they can be fixed/improved) is unhelpful, and causes harm.

And on a micro level, it would probably be less harmful to acknowledge that in this case it isn't working.

But it isn't like this ineffectual "support" described is the only option. Look at the work of IBCLCs for example (described here. There is also a huge amount of research and literature on supporting breastfeeding, breastfeeding problems, and so on. The knowledge is there, it exists, but a huge amount of UK mums are not enabled to access it. Most of them probably don't even know that it exists. And why would you, if you've never breastfed before and don't have a background in healthcare or neonatal support?

It's often the case that issues whether they are pain, discomfort, bleeding/injured nipples, unsettled baby, long feeds, inability to latch, poor weight gain, digestive issues, and so on and so forth - they often can be investigated, traced back to a cause and improvements made so that feeding improves.

And sometimes, of course, they can't. But there is no sense in denying the support to all women, just because in some cases it doesn't help. Even someone for whom all the support in the world can't help, would benefit from an experienced and sympathetic ear to say no, really, we have tried everything.

On a macro level, if somebody could be supported to continue breastfeeding and instead they are told oh this isn't working, don't worry, it doesn't always work - that does cause harm to overall breastfeeding rates.

But there is no sense in denying the support to all women, just because in some cases it doesn't help.

@BertieBotts this is what I meant by missing the point. No one is campaigning for the support to stop. No one is saying "well it didn't work for me so other women shouldn't even bother or if they find it hard no one should help them". Of course all mothers should be supported and given advice tailored to their needs and wants.

What OP and others are saying is that IF it really doesn't work that should be accepted,alternative options accepted before baby or mum need medical intervention .

I've met midwives that won't even entertain the idea that something might go wrong because "of course all women can breastfeed".

Hate the saying 'fed is best' 🤦‍♀️ actually no, fed is the bare minimum 🤦‍♀️ informed is best! As long as you are Andy our baby are happy with whichever way you choose to feed them that it what is important! Ye baby won't starve on just colostrum, there stomaches are the size of a cherry, so teeny tiny! They only need a few drops at a time, but suplimenting with formula this early on is the worst thing you can do if you actually want to fully breastfeed as your body now won't produce enough , as it works on supply and demand, if you take the demand away you won't produce a supply

I don’t know of any of my group of friends who had their DC’s when I did who didn’t have plenty of information about the different ways to feed your baby, it’s not difficult to find. I had more of an issue with my decisions being questioned. I ended up insisting that they wrote on my notes that I would be using formula from day one.

@AccidentallyOnPurpose

Then they are badly trained. Although midwives shouldn't realistically be the sole support for new breastfeeding mothers anyway, that is not their expertise, pregnancy, childbirth and recovery is.

It does sound a bit like you're saying support should stop, because you've said that the support which currently exists is going on too long and advice should be to go to formula earlier. Is that not reducing support? I agee that "just keep going, everyone can do it" isn't really supportive!

Perhaps we're missing each other's point :o My point is that the support there currently is is insufficient. Why doesn't the NHS value breastfeeding enough to employ breastfeeding specialists who can take over when a midwife's basic training/knowledge is exhausted? Probably because it's easier to pretend it's women's choices which are the problem. Perhaps because formula is a good enough alternative and the benefits of enabling more women to breastfeed wouldn't actually outweigh the cost of hiring and training specialists (maybe it genuinely doesn't?)

Congratulations on your baby, hope you get home soon.