2. Why are some baby clinics telling mothers their child should be weaned from the breast by a year? Directly contradicting guidelines from the World Health Organisation and ironically using a poster featuring a child using a sippy cup! An item which in itself may be linked to poor oral formation...
3. Why are some health professionals telling mums that posterior tongue ties don't exist when this simply isn't true?
b) How can these same people then tell mothers that a posterior tie doesn't hinder breastfeeding anyway and as such isn't worth treating. As one mum questioned, how could one treat what you just claimed didn't exist?
4) Why are some midwives advising parents of newborns that it is normal for their breastfed baby not to stool for up to 2 weeks. No as a newborn this IS NOT normal, regardless of how the baby is fed! Output is a key sign of intake, particularly in the first few weeks.
5) Why are the NHS allowing Bounty to profit from parents? Ok so I actually wondered this in March 2012 when I wrote the afore linked blog piece; however it's up for discussion again this week as Mumsnet have launched a campaign and the BBC are even Tweeting about it too!
6) Why does anyone say that cracked/damaged/agonising nipples are a normal part of establishing breastfeeding? No, no, no, no, no, no, no!
7) Why don't some health professionals not listen to mums? If their gut instinct is something isn't quite right, listen, parents have those instincts for a reason.
8) Why are some babies readmitted to hospital for slow weight gain/weight loss, supplemented with additional formula/breastmilk in hospital and then sent home without any plan other than "just breastfeed"? If the initial problem wasn't resolved and/or feeding hasn't been assessed, why would anyone assume cutting the supplements out again won't result in the same problem? Furthermore, if mum isn't told how to cut out the top ups AND ensure baby is still getting enough by monitoring output, isn't this rather irresponsible?
What have you pondered this week?
A whirlpool of the same comments, thoughts, trouble my mind too. They are what drive me and others to make a difference, get some education, some facts, be able to back up what we find with truth and passion and spread the knowledge and support :-)
ReplyDeleteI have pondered about why everyone feels the need to give unwanted, unhelpful information about breastfeeding. The advice I've heard this week to an expectant mum who is looking forward to breastfeeding is "mixed feeding is the best", "not everyone can breastfeed" and "get formula and bottles in ready just in case". Way to be supportive! And this advice was from mums!
ReplyDeleteI had a midwife this week tell a mum her 3 week old baby would NEVER latch, that in 20 yrs she had never seen a baby older than 3 weeks attach. 4r days later baby latched and hasn't refused since - I did point out to the mum the midwife doesn't see babies older than 3 weeks fullstop, hence why she wouldn't have seen late latchers! But WHY disempower the mother in this way?
ReplyDeleteRidiculous! My baby was 14 weeks when he first latched.
DeleteAnd I've seen other successes like ours.
This week I have mostly been pondering why anyone feels it is their business to comment negatively about breastfeeding past a year, or eighteen months, or two years... supporting two mums at the moment both getting constant put-downs from their own families :(
ReplyDeleteThis week I have been pondering why society sets such expectations of mothers that jeopardise getting breastfeeding established. From "you need to be out and about as soon as possible" to "your baby should be sleeping long stretches" to "if it's too hard, that's not normal and you should give up". Whay are women told that if breastfeeding has challenges in the early days, it's fine to just stop. Would someone taking a driving lesson who didn't manage to pass their test after two lessons be told they'd never learn how to drive?
ReplyDelete