Can you imagine denying a new mother what she needs to feed her baby? I can’t.
If nurses are concerned that a mother using a bottle to feed her newborn will reduce her milk supply, surely a breast pump could be offered to replace the sensation of sucking. (Pic: iStock)
But that’s exactly what’s happening as “breast is best” is pushed on stressed women in maternity wards across the country.
It happened to a friend of mine in Sydney only a few weeks ago. She had just given birth to her second child and on her gorgeous baby’s second day on earth, she knew he was hungry.
Her milk hadn’t come in, which she knew is quite normal — but she also knew the same thing happened to her first little baby, a baby who screamed to be fed and was terribly unsettled until her milk came in days later.
So second time around, said friend swore that wouldn’t happen again. She wanted to enjoy meeting her new baby, not be anxious and stressed because her baby was screaming his little lungs out for food he wasn’t getting. So, she did as any good parent would do and she asked for help.
She asked her midwife for a bit of formula to top up her baby — just one feed a day — until her milk came in. She was expecting understanding and comfort. What she wasn’t expecting was the answer she got.
“No. I was told no,” she tells me. “They wouldn’t give me formula in the hospital at all — it was quite distressing because I knew the baby needed it….”
…Fed is Best is a new US-based movement that supports women to feed their babies, however is best for them, to prevent complications for babies who don’t get enough breast milk. Conditions like jaundice, hypoglycaemia, dehydration are very serious for newborns, particularly for brain development.
Read more at The Daily Telegraph.