Your thoughts on breastfeeding policy and what could be done to improve it/ increase breastfeeding rates

[JustScreamMumsnet]

Hello Mumsnetters, we've managed to get a meeting with the person running the Government's breastfeeding initiative and would like to pass on Mumsnet's top suggestions for improving breastfeeding policy and to outline the key issues.

So let rip! But do bear in mind that there's probably bugger all in the pot, so, much as we'd all love to have a one to one breastfeeding counsellor for the first 48 hours for all type thing - that's probably not a realistic suggestion at this point.

Just one experience to add...I had ds1 in hospital 6 years ago and was not allowed to have him in my bed.

It was isolated cot nearby or nothing.
I insisted, he wouldn't feed all day as I was in a bit of a state and nobody would pass him to me when he cried...so he gave up and slept...

late at night I was told I had an ultimatum, if he didn't feed by midnight they would give him formula.

I rebelled, kept him beside me on the sheets and he did eventually feed before midnight, but it was a close call.

They were horrible about it. Insurance apparently - I wans't allowed to lift him up and walk round the ward with him either 'in case you drop him'

FFS
Wenton successfully to bf until 16mo (far too long according to many HVs and GPs I saw) and am still bfing ds2 at 29mo, also despite heavy discouragement from all and sundry...

Lal, has it occured to you that, in some areas, mothers tend to have more support? Last time I went to a breastfeeding group, I was surprised to discover that the women around me all had cleaners. I would love to have a cleaner, but would be surprised if the govt chose to provide me with one. Obviously there are cultural differences too - but with so many women who wanted to breastfeed being unable to do so, training of hcps really should be a priority, instead of promotion.

but you're missing the point, lal, other countries have high bfing rates in part because they do have good support. in norway parents go from the hospital to a baby hotel with 24 hour care on hand to help with bfing.

lal - I suspect that a lot of other countries have higher bf rates because they have a lot more community support and a network of women around them to help - large extended families, etc. I know very few women who have found it easy for the first few weeks. It took me over 6 weeks to get comfortable.

I second what someone said about diagnosing tongue tie. It should be an automatic post-natal check - although I am aware that it can be difficult to diagnose, midwives need to be properly trained to do this, too.

Also, fgs, that awful dvd they give you to 'encourage' you to bf which shows a bunch of women happily, easily and comfotably breastfeeding sets women up to feel completely useless in those difficult first weeks. It seriously needs to be binned and replaced with something more useful, with helpline numbers highlighted throughout.

Funnily enough a colleague was asking me this morning how I found bf, and I told her that MN had saved me and many a mother in our darkest hour, and that everyone should have access to the kind of encouragement and support people receive here.

Definitely harrassing or obstructing breastfeeding mothers should be made illegal - why on god's earth is it not already?

I agree that if people breastfed openly on (for example) Eastenders, and I mean openly - without it being talked about particularly, or some kind of positive message given, maybe a young and glamorous person doing it, iyswim...maybe those watching it would think it was the done thing and want to copy.

Well you never know.

Ban all formula advertising, formula milk to be sold in plain containers (not sigmatisingly grey/ government issue, just boring and practical).

I was extremely lucky on two counts: My mother, stepmother, best friends and grandmothers all BFed seuccessfully and enthusiastically; DH is vegan and therefore utterly committed to supporting me BFing (not that you have to be vegan, but I mean, really committed).

Networks of Baby Cafes could go some way to helping achieve this for all mums....especially if they are promoted as somewhere you go when pregnant, that dads are welcome at too. Antenatal classes could be held at the same time, with the assumption that everyone pops next door? AquaNatal classes could sequeway straight into postnatal groups attended by peer supporters.

BFing was physically comfortable for me but I was unprepared for the emotions that come with being your baby's sole food source. I did have a few rocking in the corner moments! The pumping option can be a poison chalice....no-one believes that you can't do it or accepts that you'd rather not, thank you.

Also, educating women about how quite young babies (8-9months) can settle into childcare without the breast, but not neccessarily needing a bottle. Lots of people timetable giving up very far in advance to accommodate this when there is often no need.

I haven't watched EE in ages but apparently Heather is bfing, well great but surely she is an object of ridicule already in several plotlines so is this not counterproductive? Who wants to be laughed at?

I'm not missing the point at all! Unlike you I believe that this is a multifaceted issue - and not just down to , provision of statutory support. Support comes in all sorts of different forms. In areas where you have traditionally high levels of breastfeeding, as well as support from health professionals, you will tend to have social support, support from friends and family who have experience of breastfeeding. Perhaps in areas where breastfeeding is the norm problems with breastfeeding are also considered normal and not a reason for stopping breastfeeding?

If we are advocating training of HCPs we also need to advocate for more HCPs - providing support etc takes time and there just isn't the capacity within the atatutory system to provide this.

Me again - I think if you knew how difficult it can be but then how easy it can be at other times I think it might help people get through the bad times and persevere rather than giving up at the first hurdle.

Also, not so much emphasis on percentiles as my son was on most of them - so pretty meaningless although they have changed them.

Our busiest local NCT BFing cousellor has a housekeeper who sometimes answers the phone to mums needing help....I have heard some vitriolic comments on that!

'really the post natal ward I was on was so grim I was desparate to get home. And I had fed him - but I knew breastfeeding wasn't 'established' - I think that took about 4 weeks.'

Yes - forcing women to do something before leaving hospital is counter-productive.

My MW told me they wouldn't let me leave until I had successfully poo'd , so i lied and told them I had - I just wanted to go HOME. And my hospital was not particularly grim at all.

It is legal to breastfeed in public in England and Wales, but Scotland has an added incentive that makes it a criminal offence to interfere with a woman's right to breastfeed.

First thing I would change is the obsession with weight. The NICE Guidelines outline when a healthy baby should be weighed, and this is for a reason. H/Vs undermine this by suggesting a baby needs to be weighed more frequently and generally micro managing weight.

I rejected all invitations to 'clinic' with ds2. I weighed him quite regularly at the post office. They thought it was hilarious.

As well as weight we need to get away from the obsession with how much a baby is feeding. When I was in hospital with DD2 (2 weeks 2 days!)she breastfed twice the first night - mws just asked me if she'd fed and were happy with that. I felt so sorry for the other lady in the ward who was formula feeding as she had to tell mws exactly how much baby had fed and when. THe obsession with ensuring formula fed babies have x ounces every y hours transfers across to bfeeding mothers who them become concerned that they don't know how much baby is feeding.

lol frrright - we weighed DD1 on kitchen scales.

If they only do one thing it has to be more training for midwives and HV's on bfing.

The lack of support, undermining comments and inconsistent advice can be truly shocking and it is no wonder we have the bfing rates we have.

AitchTwoToTangOh I think you may be on to something there when you suggest concentrating on those that want to bf. The longer these women bf, the more visible bf-ing becomes. The more more visible, the more normalised. The more normalised bf-ing becomes, greater numbers of women will want to try in the first place. Tis a virtuous circle.

Better training for the staff on hospital wards - my only advice there was "it's meant to hurt."

And why should bf success be dependent on knowing more than the health care professionals? As that what it felt like. Only realise now they were as inept as me! e.g. they should know about the impact of conditions that hinder bf, thyroid disease, polycystic ovaries or tongue tie.

Only after failing to bf, did I hear about marvellous bf organisations like La Leche League, ABM, NCT through MN - is there any way they could be brought into the 'fold'?

Ban HCPs from going on informercials free 'training days' given by formula companies.

this is false economy in the NHS, what kind of training can people who make formula give to people who are supposed to support breastfeeding?

While obviously improved training will be a huge help I don't think that is sufficient in itself. As others have said in some areas there is a culture of ff.

The statistics indicate iirc that more educated mothers with professional backgrounds are most likely to bf and to bf for the longest. Ime (and on a v unscientific basis!) this is true. While apparently in the 2005 survey only 8% of babies were still excl bf at 4mths almost everyone I know was/is still excl bf at 4mths and indeed much longer.

While obviously these mothers will still need some support they will generally go out and ask for it. Therefore I think training/eduction/support needs to be primarily targeted at specific areas in the country/less educated women in order to be successful. It is not just the physical side of bf that support/education is needed in though, there is the cultural/pyschological side. I have seen some posts on bf threads on here where women feel that they cannot bf/continue to bf because their partners don't like it/they think their partners won't find them attractive. There are also (I have heard) some mums who are proud to be able to afford to ff as they see it in someway superior. All of these things will take a long time to change. I agree with some of the posters that positive role models in the media etc may help.

Make sure the dads realise that when a mum is bf then the housework / mealtimes are probably going to slide and he is going to have to do more round the house. Women need a great support network to do it without going crazy. I speak as someone who had an XP who would not help at all with either of the dc's and I cracked and gave up at 4 months.

More professionals need to be trained on tubular hypoplastic breasts.
I wasn't given any help at all with this. My GP didnt take me seriously and refused to prescribe me domperidone which would have helped me to produce milk - even though I had researched and printed out loads of information. She dismissed it

Yes Meglet, I was going to post something similar (although am fortunate enough to have had the opposite experience). Dads need to know how to support bf mums.

In my area all the support is in the 'areas of need' and I felt it difficult to get support nearby. It's the thing that Aitch says of concentrating on the ones that want to do, rather than just try and up their stats for the 'needy' mothers. Aren't we all needing help regardless of our (and I hate to say it) class