Undermining BFing at a BFing class????

[SinginMamaTo2]

My niece will be birthing at a military hospital, her hubby in serving in Iraq. She has been told that she can go as natural as she wants, the majority of staff are midwives, she will be in control of whatever she wants...
I have concerns for her, for many reasons....but those are other issues.

So, she attended a BFing class, very supportive, informative, she learned a lot. Then at the end, they told the class it's a good idea to bring a bottle to the hospital just in case bfing doesn't go well!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When she told me this, I was dumbfounded! I explained to her that it's going to take a day or two for her milk to come in. That could be minunderstood as "BFing not going well".
I'm just worried that the first chance they have, they're going to stick a bottle in that baby's mouth.

Is this the kind of support and information they're dishing out to new moms?

[CrunchyChristianMama]

Yup! A friend of mine gave birth at a military hospital with "midwives" . She tried breastfeeding, but he wasn't latching on right away. So they made her pump and she got a whole ounce of colostrum (that all of us would be impressed with). They told her she obviously didn't make enough milk, so she would need to formula feed!!!! I was so angry for her. She still thinks she can't make milk and has said in the future she won't even try to breastfeed.

[sapphire_chan]

Evie's Mama, I wouldn't worry too much about your friend. With you around to give her info throughout her next pregnancy she'll breastfeed just fine next time.

But for all the gals who don't have smart nursing mama friends, ooooo so horrible!

Anyone else suspicious that they don't want mamas in military service breastfeeding so the babies can be left with care takers while mama goes back to work? Only it'd look too suspicious to have separate "breastfeeding" classes for spouses and for personnel.

[Naomi'sMommy]

It really depends on the military hospital. I've had a horrible experience and a completely wonderful one....yes, I'd be very leary after getting that breastfeeding 'advice.' Is this Camp Lejeune, if so, I'm not surprised at all (guessing from your location?)?

Make sure your niece has 'A Nursing Mother's Companion' or other wonderful book, and is determined to learn as much on her own as she can. My first experience, I was having so much trouble and was crying (DD wouldn't latch, long story) and the nurse told me, "I can help you but I've never breastfed a baby and don't have any experience." WTH?!
I paid to have a lactation consultant come an hour and a half TO MY HOUSE, to help me because the hospital was absolutely useless. I perserved and we were successful. Thanks to the LLL and that fabulous traveling caring LC.
Going to the 'well baby' checks, I noticed all the other mothers bottle feeding at that hospital.

Fast forward a year to my new location. It's a WHO certified "baby-friendly" naval hospital and amazing. I haven't met one mother on this base that does not breastfeed (seriously). The lactation consultants are amazing!
The L&D were also great coaches/ supporters of my natural childbirth. :

[Naomi'sMommy]

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan

Anyone else suspicious that they don't want mamas in military service breastfeeding so the babies can be left with care takers while mama goes back to work? Only it'd look too suspicious to have separate "breastfeeding" classes for spouses and for personnel.

This has not been my experience. Both military spouses and personnel attend the same birthing classes- birthing, breastfeeding, budget for baby, etc....

Also, military members are given free hospital grade pumps and supplies to use so long as they are nursing.

[minkajane]

I was active duty Air Force when I had DS in 2005. I had no childbirth or breastfeeding classes offered to me. I had very little help with breastfeeding. When I returned to work, I was not given any kind of pump. I've never heard of any military members being given pumps. My Air Force Aid office did offer loans to buy breast pumps, but they had to be paid back. I was very lucky that my boss had 5 kids and his boss had 4, so they were great about me pumping. I did pump in a bathroom, but I had a chair in there, I was the only girl, so I was the only one using it, and it was cleaned on a daily basis. If I wanted to pump in an office, I had plenty available. Also, I was able to take an extra month of personal leave, so I had 2.5 months off with DS instead of 6 weeks.

I had a ton of support from my coworkers and supervisors with BFing and pumping. Nothing whatsoever from the medical side of things. I was "ordered" to stop BFing my 13mo DS by an ER tech (no reason, 6m should just be the max according to him), was harassed by docs about how long I was planning on nursing, and was sent to the nutritionist several times about how small DS was and how slowly he grew (he's fine and normal). There was no follow-up or any kind of breastfeeding information or support whatsoever after the birth. I am the only person I know of, in six years of military service, that BF more than a couple of weeks, much less pumped at work.

[ashleyhaugh]

they offered hospital grade ones to the military mamas when i gave birth at ft gordon (well at mcg anyway, but the pumps were through ft gordon)

i think like anywhere else, it depends on where youre at who you get stuck with teaching your classes. ive heard horror stories and awesome stories too

[EdnaMarie]

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan

Evie's Mama, I wouldn't worry too much about your friend. With you around to give her info throughout her next pregnancy she'll breastfeed just fine next time.

But for all the gals who don't have smart nursing mama friends, ooooo so horrible!

Anyone else suspicious that they don't want mamas in military service breastfeeding so the babies can be left with care takers while mama goes back to work? Only it'd look too suspicious to have separate "breastfeeding" classes for spouses and for personnel.

It's not like mama could take work off for breastfeeding even if it did go well. Suppose she nursed for three full months and it went great. Then if she gets deployed, that's it, she's not pumping from Afghanistan, kwim? Sad but true.

[SinginMamaTo2]

The class my niece attended was in Co. Springs, but now she's her in NC giving birth at Ft. Bragg.
I'm trying to help her make sense of all the conflicting information. Poor thing is already stressed about her DH not making it home in time for the birth (they've given him a months window to come home around her due date), she's even talking about inducing!!!!! So the whole BFing thing is making me crazy!! She doesn't need to be worried about that as well!

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by Naomi'sMommy

This has not been my experience. Both military spouses and personnel attend the same birthing classes- birthing, breastfeeding, budget for baby, etc....

Right...that would be my point. If they're deliberately undermining breastfeeding for one group, they would need to deliberately undermine breastfeeding for the other group since the classes are the same.

[sapphire_chan]

Originally Posted by EdnaMarie

It's not like mama could take work off for breastfeeding even if it did go well. Suppose she nursed for three full months and it went great. Then if she gets deployed, that's it, she's not pumping from Afghanistan, kwim? Sad but true.

But if she's breastfeeding, she's going to be more likely to take all of whatever maternity leave she's allowed. Giving formula, she might be under more pressure to deploy early, so instead of 3 months, she takes 3 weeks.

Not saying she would want to go early, saying that the pressure would be harder to resist.

[minkajane]

Originally Posted by sapphire_chan

But if she's breastfeeding, she's going to be more likely to take all of whatever maternity leave she's allowed. Giving formula, she might be under more pressure to deploy early, so instead of 3 months, she takes 3 weeks.

Not saying she would want to go early, saying that the pressure would be harder to resist.

Military members are given 42 days of medical leave following a birth. This is non-negotiable. I was able to take an extra 30 days of leave on top of that. Military members are not deployable during these 42 days and could actually get in trouble for going to work during this time, because they are supposed to be recovering. The Army and the Air Force have new regulations in place allowing for medical personnel to recommend a one-year deferral of deployment for breastfeeding women. I don't know about the other services.

It's getting better and it is certainly possible for women to breastfeed in the military. I was able to pump until 7m with DS (and I could have gone longer if I'd needed to) and I nursed him for two years. Most military members are not in the highly-deployed positions and a woman who was committed to breastfeeding could request a temporary reassignment to a different duty position (like a desk job) or apply for cross-training (going into a different career field) or just explain the situation to the commander or first sergeant, who can try and find someone else to fill that deployment slot.

[EdnaMarie]

Originally Posted by minkajane

Military members are given 42 days of medical leave following a birth. This is non-negotiable. I was able to take an extra 30 days of leave on top of that. Military members are not deployable during these 42 days and could actually get in trouble for going to work during this time, because they are supposed to be recovering. The Army and the Air Force have new regulations in place allowing for medical personnel to recommend a one-year deferral of deployment for breastfeeding women. I don't know about the other services.

It's getting better and it is certainly possible for women to breastfeed in the military. I was able to pump until 7m with DS (and I could have gone longer if I'd needed to) and I nursed him for two years. Most military members are not in the highly-deployed positions and a woman who was committed to breastfeeding could request a temporary reassignment to a different duty position (like a desk job) or apply for cross-training (going into a different career field) or just explain the situation to the commander or first sergeant, who can try and find someone else to fill that deployment slot.

Yup, it's not at all negotiable. You are on medical leave, you ARE. ON. medical leave.

Great to hear about the deferral of deployment. That's excellent.

[HappyFox05]

Not every military hospital offers a pump. Mine didn't, but they let us labor pretty much however we wanted (we were firm about our desires), so I didn't complain.

DH's ex gave birth at Ft Bragg with the midwives there & I think, overall, she had positive experiences. Hopefully, things haven't changed.

[ErinsJuneBug]

Originally Posted by EdnaMarie

It's not like mama could take work off for breastfeeding even if it did go well. Suppose she nursed for three full months and it went great. Then if she gets deployed, that's it, she's not pumping from Afghanistan, kwim? Sad but true.

Not true - there was a mama in the news a while back that was shipping her breastmilk every day from Iraq.

[BabyMae09]

Originally Posted by ErinsJuneBug

Not true - there was a mama in the news a while back that was shipping her breastmilk every day from Iraq.

That's awesome. Too bad she got deployed tho

[2lilsweetfoxes]

Originally Posted by ErinsJuneBug

Not true - there was a mama in the news a while back that was shipping her breastmilk every day from Iraq.

She was an officer and pilot and had the means--both financial and logistical. Private Smith probably does not have the means and she was probably "bullied" into signing away (waiving) the last 2 months of non-deployability and leaving with the unit.

ETA: I know a lot of women who would rather deploy while their babies are tiny and won't remember mommy being gone.

[EdnaMarie]

Originally Posted by ErinsJuneBug

Not true - there was a mama in the news a while back that was shipping her breastmilk every day from Iraq.

Wow. God bless her.

[FiveLittleMonkeys]

I have given birth in two different military hospitals (BACH at Ft. Campbell in 1999 and TAMC, Hawaii earlier this year), and both hospitals were extremely supportive of breastfeeding. Tripler has two lactation consultants on staff who go above and beyond to help mamas to breastfeed. My son was born at not quite 34 weeks, and they were invaluable to the NICU moms.

I've never taken the breastfeeding classes offered, but I think I would submit an ICE comment about the remark about bottles. I'm sure that isn't the standard the hospital wants to uphold.

[moondiapers]

Originally Posted by Naomi'sMommy

It really depends on the military hospital. I've had a horrible experience and a completely wonderful one....yes, I'd be very leary after getting that breastfeeding 'advice.' Is this Camp Lejeune, if so, I'm not surprised at all (guessing from your location?)? :

Apparently they haven't changed. This is where I was born. My mother wanted to BF so badly, but they convinced her that her breasts were too small and she'd starve me :