What would you like to say to health professionals?
I think be a bit more supportive. I found that more with the health visitor and doctor really that they want, one minute they was like really for me breastfeeding and then the next minute, perhaps it was, but I felt they was against me a little bit because of her weight wasn't coming on and that, and they referred us to the consultant and stuff, that they need to decide whether they believe in it or not first before they voice their opinion rather than, just saying, “Oh breastfeed”, because generally it's what they should be saying to you, but if they don't believe in it then sometimes it can come through or if they've never done it themselves.
Mmm.
But I just think perhaps it was because of the weight they was concerned, with the weight rather than the actual breastfeeding, they wanted to make sure that she was fine which is, is fair enough because she is the most important one and they didn't want her health to suffer from it, which in the end we did have to give her some bottles. But not for very long, we did go back to fully breastfeeding again then once she'd put a few pounds on, she was a bit more stronger then and she wasn't feeding for as long either, so she's only taking a half hour to feed and she was feeding every three hours which was a lot better for me because I was a bit more energetic then, wasn't so worn out. And I just, I think there should be more training then with midwives with the breastfeeding which I think is starting to come in a bit more now, they are starting to do a lot more with it because they are, the government are trying to push for mothers to breastfeed. I think there should be a lot more nurses like the lactation specialists because she's just the only one for our County for like the whole of the County so, and she's just run off her feet sometimes and like she's only there for people that have problems. But I think there should be an opening somewhere for people to go, and, to speak to somebody like her even if they think their feeding's fine, just to still go and just to check that it is fine, just to have like a check to make sure that they are, baby is attached and they are feeding well, rather than just getting, getting longer down the line and the problems starting to build up and then going to see somebody and I think perhaps if we saw, if the mother was interested in breastfeeding like from birth then, perhaps if we saw somebody on a maternity ward like the day after baby was born or whatever, have like a lactation specialist just to give us some hints and show us some positioning's and that or just have somebody to come home with us [laughs].
Is that what you mean by being more supportive?
Yeah, just having somebody there on the ward because I did feel on the ward after I'd had the baby the midwife sort of left you to get on with it a little bit and they're so run off their feet as well that I didn't like to keep saying, “Oh can you come and help me with this.” And “Baby's not feeding very long” and that and, perhaps even if like auxiliaries or something took an opening in, into just learning like the different ways of positioning which I know that some hospitals are doing that now, in this area which is I think will be of benefit to mothers, breastfeeding mums in hospital, just to have that little bit of support at the very beginning rather than having the problems and, and then going about them then when their baby's like a month or two old when the baby's already, it's quite hard to get them out of the habit then, whereas if you catch it in the early days they're still learning so you can adapt it, adapt it to them then. |
