Annie White

I am a NCT breastfeeding counsellor in the Saffron Walden area.

I just thougth I'd feed back that I do get many reports of brilliant care and breastfeeding help from parents who have given birth at the Rosie. My clients often comment on how patient, expert, and kind the staff are, and how much effort is put into helping new mums to breastfeed. 'They could't have been more helpful' is a comment I often hear.

However, I also am asked to help many parents who were 'told' they 'had to' give their baby a bottle prior to being discharged.

These are usually babies who are not feeding and latching well.

While I understand that nurses have a duty of care towards the baby and ensuring the baby gets nutrition, it seems that options such as cup feeding, and expressing are not always promoted, and the problems associated with introducing a bottle when the mum wants to breastfeed aren't always appreciated.

I would just like to request that staff are made more aware of the importance of using alternative methods of feeding babies who are difficult to latch, such as syringe, cup, spoon or finger feeding, and promoting these methods to parents. Yes, these methods are harder and more time consuming than bottle feeding, but greatly increase the chances that the baby will eventually latch on. More mothers might opt for these methods if they understood the benefits and had they were promoted as the optimal way to feed a baby who is struggling to breastfeed,. Similarly, the mother needs to understand that introducing formula in the early days will lead to a decrease in her milk suppply, thus lessening the chances of her ever breastfeeding successfully.

Mothers who are experiencing initial prolems with breastfeeding, but who nevertheless very much hope to go on to breatfeed successfully need more help, support and education to learn to express their milk prior to discharge, thus maintaining their supply, rather than being encouraged to introduce formula milk in a bottle.

Regards,

Annie White

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