Hi,

I'm planning on breast feeding if I can. I'm just wondering do you get help at the hospital if you are struggling? I've read a lot of women struggle to breast feed. I went to an antenatal class ( which was just about labour) that you must try breast feed straight away. I asked the midwife what happens if you have difficulty. She just said you won't! In my area there doesn't seem to be classes on breast feeding. I'm getting a bit worried as this is my first baby. Do most hospitals help you with this if you have difficulty? Thanks

Yes in fact I think most hospitals treat feeding issues as good enough reason to keep you in. A lot of wards have lactation specialists visit a few times a week to chat to new mums - can you find out if this happens at your hospital? I think a lot of the hospitals have taregts to hit on the breastfeeding front so do use and abuse any help they have on hand

The best thing you can do is be well read on how to get the right latch position. I got it so wrong (my own fault for not doing any reading/classes) and had a lot of problems as a result including very, very sore nipples. But if you know what you're doing from the off with a good latch, you shouldn't experience that much pain. I think that's the key to getting off to the best start

They should give you help and support if you need it. They often have BF peers or such like that come in to help.
We in fact were kept in another night as Tobi refused to feed for 36 hours and I refused to offer formula, the MW etc came round every coule of hours and tried to help ( I ended up lying and saying he had suckeled for 20 mins when it was only five though, cos I just wanted to get home, where I knew it would all be ok!)
Contact ur children's centre as they will probably runs BF support group or know where your closest is. Also la leche league is meant to be very good.
Speak to your HV as well nice you have been passed over, they will be able to help.

My hospital breastfeeding experience was awful sadly, they were no help at all. In fact they bullied me into trying to give him formula! But I persevered with pumping and eventually he latched on. I actually called on the NCT expert who came round to my house. Although it was a few more days before he took to it, I found he advise and manner very helpful and she put me at ease about it. Many women don't struggle at all but some - like me - take a little time to get it right.

Clare byram cook - no more tears dvd - order from amazon. wtach before you have baby. amazing, shows you how to bf. this helped me soooo much, never had problem. I since trained a s a bf peer supporter and recommend to everyone. if u google the reviews on amazon you'll see how it has helped so many women, but mws will help you if you get stuck. though they often can be slightly different and i would advocate trying solo from watching dvd and ask help if you need.

Well, the hospital I was at werent very good with help. They kept me in for 3 days to try master it but didnt actually help me and we ended up having to stop. Since then i have done a breast feeding peer supporter course which has taught me soooooo much about positioning, what to actually look for in a feeding baby/a baby not feeding correctly, the ins and outs of the breast, how the milk comes through, how to hand express etc. So im praying that with this extra knowledge I may have a little more of a chance at sucessfully breast feeding. The peer supporters and midwife that ran the course I did run support sessions at childrens centres so mums struggling to feed can go to see them for help whenever. They also had plans to actually get onto labour and delivery wards in the near future so they can literally be there to help you feed as soon as your baby is born!! So fingers crossed this happens and will spread across the country!
The only reason I dont do the support classes is because I felt it would be hypicritical of me to help women breast feed when i couldnt sucessfully do it myself! So im determined to do it this time then ill be doing my exam/test september/october time and becoming a supporter
xx

Her telling you that you won't have difficulty is not a good choice of words. A lot of women have difficulty getting breastfeeding established and unfortunately the hospital was pretty useless in helping me when I had issues. I struggled with issues for 2 months and going to breastfeeding clinics in my city for help...which is where I finally found out I had an issue with a low milk supply.

I was in tears all the time in the beginning because my baby would feed for up to an hour in one sitting and only take a 1/2 hour break before wanting to feed again. I spent probably 9-12 hours of the day with my baby attached to me and I couldn't figure out why other women's babies only fed every few hours where as mine fed all day long it seemed. I felt like I couldn't do anything.

Some hospitals have a good support system and nurses who are willing to help, but then others are just plain useless. Do a search in the city/town you live to see if there are any breastfeeding clinics or places you can go for hands on help and support.

Good luck!

EDIT: I went on to breastfeed my first baby until she self weaned at 17 months

i was never told about where to get help if i needed it


when i first started breastfeeding, i was putting dd in a funny position so she was latching correctly but i didnt know this at the time but i could tell she wasnt latching correctly as my nipple came out of her mouth slanted like a lipstick,
i asked my health vistor the day after i gave birth but she had no advice other than its proberly normaly


but i had a check up at my hospital a few days after having dd and i mentioned it to them, so thwey asked me to feed dd in front of them and they repositioned her, and hey presto was sorted


my advice is just ask for help, and if they are a muppet like my health visitr was then ask someone else lol, are you able to speak to your mum about breastfeeding?