"My breastfeeding journey"

Thanks to the midwives that helped me with the arrival of my son in April 2023.  The care I received from them was amazing.

Shortly after I gave birth I was assisted with the first latch. My nipples started to bleed from this point but I thought this was normal as it was the first time and they had been cracking throughout my pregnancy. The bleeding carried on until day 2)and it was becoming more difficult despite the attempts and help from staff.

A feeding specialist came and gave me tips but I was still unable to get my son to latch for a long enough period and my nipple would shape like a lipstick which was said to potentially be a tongue tie issue. I then began to worry as I was questioned how many wet nappies he had and was told that he could be dehydrated, so I asked to make a bottle of the goat’s milk formula I had bought.  This was my preferred milk to use as I don’t drink cow’s milk and had done research on this milk and was confident to give to my child.

I was told there is no bottle making facilities – after some back and forth about the type of milk I was using, a bottle was prepared for him and he took 10ml of the bottle and fell asleep. So I changed his nappy to put him to bed and when he woke I noticed there was blood in his stool. I alerted the midwife and she went to get her supervisor who seemed to panic and went off to contact back up staff, then was directed to go special care unit as soon as possible.

Upon arrival at SCU was taken in for blood checks, they gave him another vitamin k injection and I was told he would need to be dehydrated for 12 hours to clear his stomach and check for blood in his nappies. During this time his blood was taken for infection test and live cultures and to wait for an update. During the 12 hours he stopped having blood in his nappies and after feeding him he continued to not have any traces of blood.

Day 3 we were told the infection indicator came back with 16 and suggested to give him antibiotics, which was just done without my approval. At this point he was being fed by a tube with my collected colostrum and some non-hypoallergenic formula. I had asked how long he would need to have antibiotics for as there was no direct prognosis and was told around 3 days, as they were waiting for the live cultures result to come back.

In this time I was questioned by SC doctor about my diet and how strict I am with non- cow’s milk diet and about the goat’s milk formula. Later on, in the day his result came back inconclusive and as he had a shot of vitamin k and the blood was sent off before this, then again, a few hours later he had to get more bloods taken due to no result showing. I was growing impatient as further blood was being taken but there was no update on his prognosis and the initial issue had been resolved as he had no more blood in his nappies. There was no reassurance and this was delaying our discharge.

Later I was placed onto the maternity transition ward and asked to put food in the fridge and was declined despite mentioning my dietary requirements and had found the meal staff very rude concerning eating during their shift time which is difficult when as a new mother I was back and forth to special care, pumping, trying to get some rest and back again. My son was placed back in my care by day 4.

By day 5 he was placed back in my care on the maternity ward and I was waiting for an update on the results of his blood and was told that we would need to stay in the hospital till Sunday which I was not aware of as they had given him antibiotics and never once was told when the course was finishing but was instructed that we could be leaving on Friday. At this time, I was begging to feel low, exhausted and weak and wanted to be discharged to go home. So I requested to go home and was spoken to by a nurse in what I found an unprofessional manner.  They were dismissive to my questions and walked away before my husband had finished speaking.

Moving forward, I think there should be more awareness of how to speak to and deal with new mothers, new facilities for alternative dietary food/ milk and or fridge facilities for patients staying on the ward. Less pressure to get breastfeeding prefect straight away would probably have made me feel more relaxed, or a room to go to with other mothers on the ward to feed might help relax. Face to face classes or support with healthcare providers before giving birth with how to breast-feed or safe feeding, so it is not so overwhelming when the baby arrives.

My breastfeeding journey was challenged from the start and due to the lack of support and the lack of communication from the special care doctors, during a stressful time for parents it should be handled with more care.

Lastly, I would like to add that the majority of the staff were lovely and I just want to share my experience so no one else has to suffer a slight high infection reading and they gave him antibiotics without letting me know why or with my permission.