Breastfeeding Encouragement....?

Question

I was just curious as to if anyone out there thinks Dr.s and hospitials should be more encouraging of breastfeeding. My doctor told me that breastmilk was the best for your baby at the very begining but never mentioned another word about it through the rest of my preg. They would always just ask are u going to be bottle or breastfeeding? I'm not saying that I think they should force it on you, but just help you to be more knowledgeable about the importance of it. I started thinking about this cause the other day I was at the hospital visiting someone who had just had their baby boy and it was time to try and nurse him. He had no intrest in latching on. You could tell he was tired and nursing was going to be to much work. So instead of the nurse helping her or saying lets get the lactation consul. she says well he needs to eat so I'll go get a bottle...I thought to myself ur a nurse help her! So i guess I'm asking is do u think people in the medical feild should be more encouraging?

Answer 1

Oh, Danielle...Most definitely!! I understand that not every new mom want's to breastfeed (whether they just don't feel right doing it, are going back to work, etc) but I do think that if the mom wants to try it, they should have support backing them! It IS the best start for our children (that's what our milk is for, after all!) but just TELLING us that doesn't help when there are problems, and slamming a bottle down baby's throat doesn't help the mom any, does it?
If I knew then what I know now, i wouldn't have had to stop BFing my little girl at 6 months because of low milk production after she got a bout of thrush (as well as on my nipples! i have the scars to prove it... :( owww) I was never offered any help from anyone! Luckily, the initial feeding thing did come pretty naturally to me, but once that problem came around, it was downhill from there and baby got frustrated and then came the end. I wanted to feed her much longer than that (at least for the first year) but was unable. I now know a few things that could've helped me back then, but obviously that doesn't help.

So that's a big fat YES from me!

Answer 2

My mother is a lactation consultant at our local hospital. What should happen in those instances is they should get the lactation consultant. Just because the baby has no interest in latching (I had a similar problem the first day or so) doesn't mean they won't ever latch. They figure out quickly that the breast is where food comes from. I believe every woman should be well informed and make their wishes clear to the nurses and doctors. In the hospital I was in, they had cards on the bassinettes that said "I'm a breastfed girl/boy" or "I'm a bottlefed girl/boy" That way there was no confusion. A lot of nurses don't know how to breastfeed a baby. I think women should be more informed about the choices they're making because it affects not only them but their baby as well. Also, women should not be afraid to stand up and say "no, I don't want my baby to have a bottle" or "I want my baby to have a bottle" or a variation thereof. Just because they're nurses doesn't mean they know everything.

Answer 3

I bottlefed my first child. I nursed my other 3 but also supplmented with formula at times. (Mainly when we were out). Some hospital staffs are just not very supportive of breastfeeding. I had a wonderful LC with my first daughter. She helped me get over the issues my daughter had latching on.

I think some people are afraid to be too encouraging because breastfeeding is not for every woman. Some women do not want to do it and other's just do not feel comfortable with the whole idea of it.

Answer 4

they should be more encouraging. i was encouraged to give my daughter formula in the middle of the night by nurses when she was crying like crazy, wouldn't latch on, and i was extremely sleep deprived. i know they were just trying to help, but i still feel badly about needing to supplement. if i had known what i know now i would have just kept her with me as long as possible nursing all night if i needed to.

it's even more than just the people in healthcare who need to be encouraging. that encouragement needs to come even moreso after someone leaves the hospital. i read stats that said that about 64% of new moms start out breastfeeding, but after 6 months only 29% are still breastfeeding and that percentage drops to just 16% at the one year mark. it's nice to have encouragement and free access to a lactation consultant in the hospital but when you get home you can feel so alone struggling with a crying infant, running on no sleep.

my mother and grandmothers did not breastfeed, so i have no one in my family to show me the ropes. there are so many times i could have given up, and if i wasn't so determined to make it work i would have.

there are breastfeeding support groups but some of them come across as zealots, and i find that it's a deterant for many mothers. as the person above mentioned, they cannot breastfeed because of the medication they take and they shouldn't be made to feel badly because of that. as much as i love breastfeeding and as much as i love to encourage others to breastfeed there is a line to be drawn.

Answer 5

I think that most hospitals are encouraging...I had an OBGYN who "encouraged" to the point of almost harassment. I've also had a Mother/Baby nurse tell me I was a horrible mother for not breast feeding. Anymore of that "encouragement" and I think I wouldn't have been able to take it.

PS~ I could not breast feed because in order to be healthy and a functioning member of society I take medication that is not conducive to breastfeeding. I spent 9 months without medication but could not continue without it.

Answer 6

I have had three children(all c-sections). The first one I could not breastfeed because I had a high fever and the hospital wouldn't let me. By the time I went home my milk was already mostly dry so I had to bottle-feed her. With my second child, I breastfed him until I had to start supplementing him more and more because of his hunger (about two months old). With my third child, we were stationed overseas and the formulas were very expensive, so I breastfed her and I didn't have any trouble with her latching on. I had plenty of milk, so I breastfed her until she was ready to have cow's milk. (I guess the third time is a charm, as the saying goes). I do believe hospitals and staff should help and support the mother's decision about which way she would like to feed her baby.

Answer 7

I think there is a happy medium. And, the level of care depends on the hospital itself - easily shown in the different levels of care my sister and I had. Our babies are five months apart.

The nurses and doctors asked me from the beginning what I wanted, breast of bottle. I told them breast. Only an hour after being delivered we were feeding my son! It's so much easier during that initial awake time. He suckled right on!

She also told me they had a lactaion consultant on staff. And if ever I need her help just to call and they'd send her in.

But, my sister didn't have the same care. They didnn't have her on the breast right away. She settled in to sleep and they couldn't wake her to eat. Even with undressing and cool rag on her head it was nothing but trouble. Then they offered her breast sheilds.

Which baby got used to and would suck on her bare breast. It was a disaster.

They didn't even pay attention when my neice did eat for a full 12 hours!!

Yes, some health care professionals are "brain dead".

Answer 8

i think it is up to you & your family to show encouragement for what works best for your situation. i decided that breastfeeding was best for my 3 children & i nursed each one for a year. i had 3 c-sections and was still successful at breastfeeding. if you want to breastfeed, you should take a tour of the hospital & meet some of the nurses and ask what they do to help mothers succeed at breastfeeding. inquire about lactation consultants on duty. don't rely on the nurses & doctors to make your feeding decisions for you, decide what you want & be firm about your choice. u r the mother!!

Answer 9

i would say that they should kinda tell you a little more about it other then that its good for your baby, not that, that wouldn't be a good enough reason.. cause i would do anything to make my baby healthy.. but i know it also helps the mother lose weight.. or at least it helped my sister.. we're all normal size but she has three kids and shes already skinnier then she was before her last one.. i just hope that i look the same or better after i have 3 kids.. if i have that many..lol but yeah i would say they need to get more into detail with how much better is for the baby and the mother...

Answer 10

I think it is up to the parents to do research on how they want to feed their own child. If breastfeeding was so utterly important, I would think there would be more encouragement but the fact is for most healthy babies...formula does what it's supposed to do just fine...feed and nourish. Thats why they don't push it.