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Can I just clarify,she HAS to take bottles & milk in with her???

Just in case???

I thought that almost anyone could breast feed given the right advice,encouragement & a bit of patience.

Or are the hospitals now so short staffed that they no longer have the man power to help new mums out & tell them to bring milk & bottles in :shock:

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Sorry, no help at all but that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. If she does decide to breastfeed she's bought bottles and milk she won't need. It sounds as though the hospital are pro bottles. This makes me :evil:

 

If once she's given it a good go (and that's not just the first attempt, it can take a while) you can buy ready made up cartons of milk which is less hassle than dried formula.

 

I'd advise she goes and has a chat with someone from La Leche League or a local breastfeeding support group.

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Yep, she's to take bottles and milk in with her. I made her ring the delivery suite today to check. Also, as far as I know she'll be shunted off home the same day as well if baby and her are OK :shock: Beggars belief imo when it's your first.

 

My worry is that she ends up like I did with a baby who wouldn't breast feed, got NO help at all during the day and ended up staying in for 10 days with a baby who lost more than 10% of weight. She was only 5lb 14oz to begin with. Only way I could get out was to give her bottles so she put weight on.

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Unfortunately our code of conduct prohibits us from recommending brands of formula milk, as this could be construed as advertising. Many maternity units have stopped providing formula milk to comply with Baby Friendly and gain accreditation as such. It is rarely vital that a baby feeds immediately, and therefore if your daughter is planning on breastfeeding, it isn't necessary for her to take formula with her...if baby doesn't take to the breast, and after being helped by the infant feeding advisor, there should be ample time for her partner/family members to pop to the shop and pick up a carton of ready to drink formula and a bottle. It shouldn't be necessary to take in sterilisers as the unit should provide these.

 

Also, please be reassured that if the baby won't breastfeed, and an early feed is CLINICALLY indicated (I.e. a medical necessity, as opposed to simply wanting the baby to have a feed), then SCBU should have either DEBM (donor, heat treated, expressed breast milk), or formula, to provide for those babies who NEED to feed but can't, or won't, attach at the breast.

 

Tina :D

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Thanks Tina, that's really reassured me. Can I ask are infant feeding advisors at every hospital. Again DD seems to have been given such little information. She's even had to ask and ask about anti-natal classes. I've ended up having to drive her and her partner into another town so she could go to some as the four classes they run had ended in our town until April. She's due the end of this month! I know that might not seem such a big deal but she's missed out on meeting other local mum to be's!

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Hopefully every unit will have an infant feeding advisor! If your daughters unit is no longer supplying formula, then hopefully this means they are working towards, or have already achieved, Baby Friendly accreditation...which means they should be committed to helping women breastfeed. So even if there isn't an advisor, there should be enough midwives and support staff to enable women to be adequately supported in their feeding choices.

 

Leaving the hospital early is often what women want, as they feel that they will rest better in their own environment. Certainly in my unit, a woman who is breastfeeding will not be discharged until baby is feeding well...unless the woman self discharges against advice...because we don't want women and babies to be readmitted a few days down the line for a baby who isn't feeding, along with the accompanying weight loss and, sometimes, jaundice.

 

There are VERY few women/babies who are unable to breastfeed, so I do hope your daughter gets the help and support she needs in order to feed her baby how she chooses. I think it is well worth her looking into breastfeeding peer supporters before she has the baby...women who have successfully breastfeed and want to help others do the same. You should find details of local peer supporters by Googling. Also, I strongly recommend looking at local Children and Family Centres...not only do they sometimes have peer supporter grops, but they often run mum and baby groups, which would be great if your daughter is keen to meet other mums in the area.

 

Hope that's of some help :D

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Excellent advice Nanny Ogg!

 

I'd also recommend she joins the NCT as their main purpose (apart from the political side improving maternity services) in connecting parents with each other and providing support. They train Breastfeeding Counsellors and Postnatal Leaders, and will put your daughter in touch with her local area rep - who will in turn be able to introduce her to other new parents. I've been a member for years and now i'm a new Mum myself I have a great support network thanks to them.

 

Good luck and I hope to see baby pics soon!!!!

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Echo what has been said about NCT, but I know it's not cheap, and could be a bit late?

 

Our local SureStart also has a dedicated Breast Feeding clinic, and I guess they don't only do that in our area. They have been very useful! Could be worth checking out in advance? They also have lots of playgroups and things, and great wayto meet new people.

 

Our local dr's surgery also did a free postnatal class, and was a great place to make new friends. Perhaps in terms of networking they may do something similar in your area? Also try looking for groups on facebook. I know there are some groups in our local area, of new mums meeting in the various local coffee shops!

 

Goodluck to your daughter! My LO is nearly one - I cannot believe it!!

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Can I point your daughter in the direction of another webforum I frequent? Its an amazing source of information and support. I've been going there for a few years :wink:

 

Its called Natural Mamas, and on there I am Avilo. There are a quite a few on there who also keep chickens too, I've pointed them in this forums direction too.

 

Sadly, lack of communcation is common within this environment, its no ones fault, everyone is over stretched and often for them, they only have time to real off the standard statements/responses because of time pressures. However I'm still cross at the hospital though, the message they are sending is, bottles will be needed :evil:

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I hope that she gets on OK Anne. The maternity unit where I had Rosie had (and still has) a breastfeeding clinic which you can attend after you've left hospital if you need support. I was friendly with the midwife who ran it and she asked me to pop in if I could to chat to any new mums; it had a lovely atmosphere.

 

A friend of mine is a BF trainer/counsellor and if you care to PM me your town I can ask her if she knows of any friendly contacts in that area. :)

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Thanks Clare, I will drop you a pm.

 

Spoke to DD just before and she says there is a group in town on Monday mornings BUT she is stroppy and feeling huge and fed up and told me she wasn't going to go to a group to be told what to do :roll: Not sure if she thinks it's going to be full of "old" women making her feel uncomfortable. She's not got on with her midwife at all so thinks everyone is going to be the same and talk down to her as she's only 20 next week :(

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Aww, bless her. My midwife was wonderful - an old school Irish lady. The health visitor was another matter :roll: sanctimonious moo :evil:

 

DD has let the midwife know that she's not impressed which probably doesn't help :oops: She spent twenty minutes each with two older ladies same stage as DD and DD was in for three minutes on Wednesday. She'd sat waiting for over 40 minutes. DD is hoping she's not on duty when she goes in for delivery! Hope the HV's are nice -lol Mine was lovely but long retired now.

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However I'm still cross at the hospital though, the message they are sending is, bottles will be needed :evil:

 

Sorry Ygerna, but I have to tell you this is not the case. If the hospital wanted to send the message that bottles are needed, they would continue to provide free formula. The fact that they no longer do so is testament to the fact that they are committed to breastfeeding. The message is, if you are going to give your baby formula, then you have to provide it yourself, as the NHS is no longer going to fund it!!! :D

 

Anne, it's a shame your area doesn't have a dedicated young parent midwifery team...I work in such a team myself, providing care for 21 and under, we provide antenatal education for our client base, and we also provide an on call service, so that one of us is available 24/7 to provide care in labour. I think that this kind of service is essential for young mums, to ensure that they can be provided with all the info they need, and can be pointed in the direction of support groups, etc. However, having said that, I think this kind of service should be available full stop, regardless of age or postcode :(

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All sounds very stressful - I was desperate, simply desperate to get out of hospital with both of mine as quickly as possible. We're not comfortable with home births as we're a way from the hospital and neither of us will forget the hideous transfer to theater from delivery with Imogen, but I just wanted to leave the minute they stitched me up.

 

Anyways, it's not a bad idea to have a bottle or two and a breast pump handy, I got on well with the Tommee Tippee closer to nature pump and bottles and they're generally cheap as chips in Tesco or Boots on offer. Mog had to be given formula after her traumatic delivery (low blood sugar) and they asked me which I wanted (SMA or Cow and Gate), but she was in SCBU at the time. She breastfed perfectly well, despite having been given bottles for the first day she was out.

 

With Teddy, he started refusing bottles (of expressed milk or formula) at around four months and the nicest, tastiest formula we found for him was HiPP organic. It's a nice oaty flavoured milk, without the manky metallic aftertaste of SMA, and he had practically breastfed poos while on it. You can buy cartons (handier for hospital) and I would buy travel disposable bottles so she doesn't have to sterilise in hospital.

 

I was really anti NCT with Mog, then went along with Teddy and I wish I'd done it the first time. They're not BFing Nazis (in fact the BF counsellor was less hardcore than I am, and I'm a really lazy breastfeeder), and it's really nice to have a group of mums to swap stories with.

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I've never heard of having to take in your own milk & bottles before :shock:

 

I tried breast feeding my first, lasted about 2 & a half weeks, I absolutely hated it. I bottlefed the other 2 right from the start, we used SMA Gold with all 3. The hospital provided little weeny bottles of formula, with the 3rd we had to make a note at each feed how much he'd taken.

 

Good luck!

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I fed both of mine, the 1st wasnt easy, as he was poorly. The auxillery staff on the ward were wonderful.We ended up catching milk in a teaspoon, and shoving it down his little bird like gob :lol:Dignity; what's that!!

The fear of not being able to feed them is terrible, and the baby has to learn a new trick(latching on) really fast too, as they are used to food just being there!! Have patience, try to be calm, which is not easy, and let nature help you.

If it is all too much, or it hurts, or you are just not able for whatever reason, then bottle, ; better that and happy mum, than tears and agonies. I did get it sussed out, and was really glad in the long run, as it's so much easier, if a little exclusive(no one else can feed them!!)

Happy days!!

Good luck, and I hope the birth and afterwards is a good experience for her., babies are great!!

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Thanks everyone :)

 

NannyOgg, I'm amazed that there isn't a dedicated young midwifery team as we live near Blackpool........A friends niece also had lack of help in the next neighbouring area and she was only 18. Again it's an area with a lot of young and like Blackpool some very young mums :?

 

Auntye, thanks for saying about HiPP organic as one reason I asked about milk was that eldest DD was fed with SMA and her poos were horrendous. Was told by GP that I couldn't swap as it would cause more problems and my HV said "oh, it's known for that so why are you using it" I was just too sleep deprived to argue or even question it. Of course that was over 21 years ago but it still makes me wonder if I caused problems with eldest DD by using it. I'm going to see if our local Boots or one of the chemists sell HiPP.

 

DD has also got some of the Tomme Tippee closer to nature bottles in.

 

Freddie, catching milk in a teaspoon sounds like a wonderful experience not!

 

Could well be me panicing about everything as both DD's were horrendous feeders and I had to keep a tally of what they took in for months.

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Does she know that she is within her rights to ask that the midwife that she doesn't get on with doesn't see her or attend to her anymore, either pre or post natally? I has to do that with a midwife who really upset me, & although it was hard doing the asking to the head of midwifery that I didn't see this midwife again it was a big relief when it was done, & then I could relax about it.

Sending her hugs x

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Does she know that she is within her rights to ask that the midwife that she doesn't get on with doesn't see her or attend to her anymore, either pre or post natally? I has to do that with a midwife who really upset me, & although it was hard doing the asking to the head of midwifery that I didn't see this midwife again it was a big relief when it was done, & then I could relax about it.

Sending her hugs x

 

Jules, thanks for the hugs I will pass them on. She definately didn't know she could have done that as she isn't backward in coming forward and would have done that before.

 

I didn't know she could either so "might" mention it to her although she's due on the 28th March. Do the midwifes see you a lot afterwards now I wonder as things will have changed so much since I had DD's.

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