MandaAnda
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(Apologies if any of this information is elsewhere - mods, please delete as applicable.)
I have been reading a few threads on here, and (while I don't dispute anyone's viewpoint) I'm quite disappointed that a lot of mothers seem to feel that the healthcare profession is anti-breastfeeding and just wants to get babies on the bottle.
I'd say that any nurse/midwife that doesn't support breastfeeding (regardless of their personal beliefs) is going against the way we are supposed to practice, which is with an evidence-base to everything we do; and obviously the evidence points to breastfeeding being the best way forward.
So, I thought I'd provide a few links that show what healthcare professionals should be doing and therefore what you should expect from them.
In the UK, the charity UNICEF and the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommend that every hospital strive to be "baby friendly" by signing on to and implementing the Baby Friendly Initiative. This is a great website to see if your chosen hospital (and local hospitals) are participating, what they have to do to participate, what stage they're at, and you can even write letters to the Chief Executives to get them going.
I don't live in the States anymore, but I use another website, as their neonatal study articles are great. There's a really informative study article here about what American healthcare professionals should be doing regarding breastfeeding. (Go to "Self Study Modules" > "Breastfeeding Getting Started" > "Objectives" and follow it through.) Loads of information here, but I think it'd even be easy to understand from a non-nursing point of view.
And finally, this link is something that the practice educator on our unit sent to us. I think it wonderfully shows that even the baby wants breastfeeding started ASAP after birth. Definitely watch the video, but there's lots of information on there. Breast Crawl.
I think informed decisions are the best you can put into any birth plan and exactly the kind your midwife/L&D nurse needs to hear to explain why you chose whatever it is you chose.
I hope all that makes sense and is useful!
I have been reading a few threads on here, and (while I don't dispute anyone's viewpoint) I'm quite disappointed that a lot of mothers seem to feel that the healthcare profession is anti-breastfeeding and just wants to get babies on the bottle.
I'd say that any nurse/midwife that doesn't support breastfeeding (regardless of their personal beliefs) is going against the way we are supposed to practice, which is with an evidence-base to everything we do; and obviously the evidence points to breastfeeding being the best way forward.
So, I thought I'd provide a few links that show what healthcare professionals should be doing and therefore what you should expect from them.
In the UK, the charity UNICEF and the World Health Organisation (WHO) recommend that every hospital strive to be "baby friendly" by signing on to and implementing the Baby Friendly Initiative. This is a great website to see if your chosen hospital (and local hospitals) are participating, what they have to do to participate, what stage they're at, and you can even write letters to the Chief Executives to get them going.
I don't live in the States anymore, but I use another website, as their neonatal study articles are great. There's a really informative study article here about what American healthcare professionals should be doing regarding breastfeeding. (Go to "Self Study Modules" > "Breastfeeding Getting Started" > "Objectives" and follow it through.) Loads of information here, but I think it'd even be easy to understand from a non-nursing point of view.
And finally, this link is something that the practice educator on our unit sent to us. I think it wonderfully shows that even the baby wants breastfeeding started ASAP after birth. Definitely watch the video, but there's lots of information on there. Breast Crawl.
I think informed decisions are the best you can put into any birth plan and exactly the kind your midwife/L&D nurse needs to hear to explain why you chose whatever it is you chose.
I hope all that makes sense and is useful!
