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Not Surpired but shocked all the same  

post #1 of 37
5/8/08 at 11:49am
Thread Starter 
My hv popped out for a visit today. we got talking about BF and she told me that out of the 70ish births in the last year only SIX families are BFing. only 2 of those are over 6 months (mine is one of those) and she fully expects that i will be her longest BFing mum. she lamented on the fact that by time HV takes over a case if mums are gonna quit bf they already have so theres not alot she can do!

not aurprising really but im still a bit shocked that its that low, six out of 70 sucks

Kiz
post #2 of 37
5/8/08 at 2:38pm
I think the last numbers out of the UK I read said that only 2% of babies make it to 6 months breastfeeding exclusively.

to you for leading the way!
post #3 of 37
5/8/08 at 2:59pm
Wow, those are sure sucky numbers! I feel really bad for those babies .
post #4 of 37
5/8/08 at 4:08pm
yeah, I'm in the UK too, that sounds about right in my experience too
post #5 of 37
5/8/08 at 4:28pm
When I lived in Ireland, I met many, many babies (my husband has a huge family), and not one was breastfed. A lot of the older kids were, but formula seems to be the trendy thing over there right now.
post #6 of 37
5/8/08 at 6:11pm
What is HV?
post #7 of 37
5/8/08 at 6:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by HomeBirthMommy View Post
What is HV?
That would be Health Visitor I think. I am in uk and bf my dc for over a year each but I kinda got the feeling most women here don't bf. My small breasts are so non-existant I am embarressed to be seen in a vest top now the weather is hot( at moment anyway lol it is soo hot here as to be stifling) but I'm very glad I bf my dc. I never see anyone bfding babes here, indoors or out.
post #8 of 37
5/8/08 at 6:20pm
Thread Starter 
HV is Health Visitor. a medical professional that looks after the health of mums and babies from 10-14days after birth till child turns 5. they offer advice on weight gain, some illnesses, starting solids, milestones, development etc, some are great, some suck. i have had 1 brill one, one really crappyone who was a two face COW, one OK one and one fairly good one.

Kiz
post #9 of 37
5/8/08 at 7:51pm
Aw those numbers are not good. I have an online friend from the UK and she said after her daughter was born [water birth!] there was no one around to help with breastfeeding. No help whatsoever. She had to figure it out all on her own. But on a positive note, she has a successful breastfeeding relationship with her baby and is a lactivist!
post #10 of 37
5/9/08 at 4:58am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Teyu View Post
Aw those numbers are not good. I have an online friend from the UK and she said after her daughter was born [water birth!] there was no one around to help with breastfeeding. No help whatsoever. She had to figure it out all on her own. But on a positive note, she has a successful breastfeeding relationship with her baby and is a lactivist!
I had plenty of help both times. ( I had a waterbirth too!) In the hospital where I delivered all the nurses are trained LCs and I found them very helpful in getting things established. Most mothers get out of the hospital as soon as they can though so miss out on this.

not so great once you get home. I had some issues when ds was 5 wks and it took over a week before I could get hold of the breastfeeding support counselor. Most mamas would have just given up by that time but I don't do quitting.
post #11 of 37
5/9/08 at 9:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Onemagicmummy View Post
HV is Health Visitor. a medical professional that looks after the health of mums and babies from 10-14days after birth till child turns 5. they offer advice on weight gain, some illnesses, starting solids, milestones, development etc, some are great, some suck. i have had 1 brill one, one really crappyone who was a two face COW, one OK one and one fairly good one.

Kiz

That would annoy me to no end, I hope it's optional.
post #12 of 37
5/9/08 at 9:55am
afaik it's not optional...they turn up on your doorstep whether you like it or not, that said, mine has not been over since ds2 was a few weeks. If they are overall happy with things they don't keep bothering you. with ds1 I get a card in my door now and again with a questionnaire about his development which I just fill in and send back.
post #13 of 37
5/9/08 at 10:02am
Quote:
Originally Posted by rmzbm View Post
That would annoy me to no end, I hope it's optional.
Yes, it is optional, but they don't actually tell you that. Its called the "Child Health Surveilence Programme" Even the name is off putting!

I also read the statistic recently that only 2% of babies in the UK are exclusively breastfed for 6 months. How sad In my area no one breastfeeds. Its kind of a cultural thing. And they get milk tokens to pay for their formula, so whats the point in breastfeeding?? (Never understood that myself - breastmilk is free and you don't even need to go to the shops to get it!)

I don't have an LLL in my area. The health visitors do run a breastfeeding support group, but it is in a really akward place to get to. Would need to take two buses to get there. I've found no one has any really specialist knowledge. All the healthcare people are very supportive of breastfeeding, but no one seems to be able to help if you are having problems.
post #14 of 37
5/9/08 at 10:08am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Claire and Boys View Post
afaik it's not optional...they turn up on your doorstep whether you like it or not, that said, mine has not been over since ds2 was a few weeks. If they are overall happy with things they don't keep bothering you. with ds1 I get a card in my door now and again with a questionnaire about his development which I just fill in and send back.
No, it is optional. When you register your baby with the GP there is a box on the form that says something like "opt in to child health surveilance programme". When I was filling it in for my oldest child the receptionist told me to tick the box - so I did, not knowing what it was. Second time the midwife (i think) brought me out a form from the surgery with the box already ticked! I bet if you didn't tick it the receptionist would think, oops they've forgotten to tick the box and tick it anyway.

I'd think you could write and ask to be removed from the programme if you wanted. Not sure where you'd write to. The surgery or the healthcare trust or something?
post #15 of 37
5/9/08 at 10:43am
Sarah, where in Scotland are you? I lived in Aberdeen for a year. In fact, that's where I saw my first breastfeeding mother! Being raised in Central Florida, I had never seen anyone breastfeed ever! I was absolutely entranced by the mama in Aberdeen (she was an older woman and was breastfeeding right in the food court of the shopping center) and thought it was so beautiful.
post #16 of 37
5/9/08 at 11:13am
Quote:
Originally Posted by sarah0404 View Post
All the healthcare people are very supportive of breastfeeding, but no one seems to be able to help if you are having problems.
I find this so frustrating! It's like they think that all they have to do is say "we support breastfeeding" and magically no women will ever have problems! We need a system that really supports breastfeeding - with health care workers who can actually help mums having difficulties, or at least refer them to someone who is trained to help!

(oops - small rant there!)
post #17 of 37
5/9/08 at 11:57am
I worked with the community mw's in Edinburgh 8 years ago. I was surprised at the low rates of BF'ing. IIRC, they were trying to keep women BF'ing for at least 3 mos.
I learned a lot about BF'ing working with them but they didn't seem to be very strong advocates for it.
post #18 of 37
5/9/08 at 5:35pm
What are the obstacles for women in breastfeeding? I know you said there is very little help when you have problems, but are there that many families with problems? (This coming from someone who DID have every problem in the book, so please bear with my ignorance)!

Is it that that moms are embarrassed to show their breasts out in public? Good grief this is the land of the page 3 girl (did I get the page right? the topless woman on the inside of the newspaper). Unsupportive partners and families? What is going on?
post #19 of 37
5/9/08 at 6:06pm
When I had my first baby in hospital, hb transfer, I was attempting to bf baby and was just getting the hang of it and the nurse came up and asked if I needed any help. I said no thanks, I'm just going to persevere on my own, had only been trying for 5 mins. She didn't accept my choice and came bustling over again and said 'here let me...' and proceeded to grab my breast and forcefully rammed it into my baby's mouth who was overwhelmed by the violence and the mouthful. She got baby sucking very hard on my breast and walked away pleased with another job 'well done'. Well I proceeded to have a nipple infection in that nipple and couldn't feed my baby from that breast and it was very painful and inconvenient. Every time my babe latched on it was violently, just like nursy had shown her. I am pretty sure she was the cause of my infection and babe's painful latch. Perhaps it's stuff like this that stops moms bfding. Also another mom was having some difficulty starting her new babe off on the breast and the nurses kept pointing to me to show her how it was done. I felt terrible and went over and apologised on their behalf and explained what they'd done to me, I think the mom couldn't let down her milk cos she was being watched all the time and lost her confidence. No problems bfding after ucing my 2nd and 3rd babes.
post #20 of 37
5/10/08 at 3:32am
Thread Starter 
teh attitude in the UK is pretty similar to that in teh US. unsupportive partners, teh "ease" of Formula, little to no help from MW's to show peopl ehow to do i. whewn i had DS2 i was left alone to get on with it. i asked a couple of times for them to check my latch, the lady in the next bed can in, was settled and asked to be shown how to BF, she gave it not even 10 mins and said "no i cant do it i want to try formula" so off the MW went and got her a bottle. i was disgusted and i really wanted to go help that woman but didnt have the guts to. i would now.

this is that land of Page 3 and that is totaly acceptible, but stick a babe on the end of that boob and OH MY GOD THATS DISGUSTING TAHT WOMAN HAS A BABY SUCKING ON HER BOOB, MAKE IT STOP, LOCK IT AWAY, DIG MY EYES OUT WITH A SPOON I AM SCARED FOR LIFE, LOCK UP YOUR KIDS TO HIDE THEM FROM THSI DISGUSTING AND SHAMEFULL SIGHT

well in some plaes anyway. i havent had a problem

actuayl i think the problem is lack of information and lack of actualy knowing the differance between BM and FM. most people i know say that formula is just as good as breask milk.

we have the highest teen pregnancy rates in te EU, we have one of Lowest BF rates in EU.
My HV even said they need more mums like me.

Kiz
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