Breast Feeding in Hospital.

tarajayne

Really need help from the Mse people tonight!!! :A

My DD is currently in St.Micheals hospital in Bristol with her newborn as baby needed an operation. She is a first time Mum and baby was born on the 4th and transferred on the 5th. The hospital were no help at first with the expressing until her OH made a fuss and there was no midwife available until DD was feeling very poorly and again her OH demanded help. They don't feed Mums who are staying there down the corridor, there is a kitchen with a microwave and kettle but no cooking facilities and there is no restaurant. I have challenged the hospitals Unicef Award for their Breast Feeding Friendly Policy and they have now said that not many hospitals do offer BF Mums food.

I have said I can come back with hospitals that do, so can any of you either phone your local hospital or have you been in, or any of your friends been in and stayed with your children whilst BF and been fed?

I need the names and towns the hospitals are in for an email back to the Pals team tomorrow!

Thank-you! XXX

savingmummy

Our local hospital feed bf mummies but not ff mummies. I thought this was the norm!!
Mums need to eat to have milk!!!

Hope all is ok with baby xx

Hospital princess alexandra harlow essex

snapping_crocodile

I fear their repsonse may be that the staff should not be feeding the breast feeding mothers as it is not part of the policy. I know in the hospitals I worked in it wasn't in th policy. However the (normally!) natural caring element of nursing is to feed these mums! Our immediate managers knew we fed them, though not sure about the bigwig managers :eek: I hope you do get a good result though, cos after all you would imagine it should be something that is done when brestfeeding is so widely promoted, especially as many areas have, or aspire to getting, the baby friendly award

carefullycautious

Poor mum, she must be worried enough without having to source food for herself. Shame on the NHS

tarajayne

DD is a chef, she said that as the hospitals are already cooking for 200+ people, to add the 10 or so Mums from their ward the cost would be about £1.50 per head a day, so it's not really a money thing as far as I can see.

money_saving_diva

Hi, I hope you do get somewhere with this. My friends baby was in hospital in a hospital in Leicester (sorry I don't know which one) and she thought they weren't feeding her so she was struggling to the restaurant to get food a day after giving birth. When the staff realised they pointed out she could have free meals on the ward. It took her a few days to be told this. She did get help expressing milk and sucessfully breastfed when home. I hope your DD starts to get help from the hospital. I know I ate and ate when I was trying to breast feed.

serena

Tarajayne, try getting in touch with the NCT here.

I think they'd be very interested and supportive.

tarajayne

I need to add though that DD is not a patient, just a Mum staying at the hospital as she's too far to travel! X

wannasave25

I stayed on an Infants ward with my son recently. I wasn't breastfeeding but was still provided with breakfast. Other mums who stayed and were breastfeeding were fed 3 meals a day.

I thought this was the norm too.

Hope your daughter and her baby are home soon.

University Hospital Coventry and Warwickshire

feclmum

savingmummy wrote: »

Our local hospital feed bf mummies but not ff mummies. I thought this was the norm!!
Mums need to eat to have milk!!!

Hope all is ok with baby xx

Hospital princess alexandra harlow essex

our local hospital also feeds bf mums but not ff mums when their children are in patients.
leighton hospital crewe cheshire

savingmummy

I have just asked my old ward manager who is on a womenrs health unit she states whether mum is in maternity, A&e, orthapedic or medical she would be fed as she is nursing.

Most childrens ward do have a kitchen for parents so they dont have to leave the ward BUT bf mums get meals on the ward in our local hospital.

Definately very shameful and i would be complaining about this.