I'd like to start by saying that the care we received at the RD&E (and from Maternity Services overall, including from the community midwives) was brilliant. Everyone was very nice, and we felt supported at all times.
However, there was one area that I think should be mentioned, as for me it is symptomatic of the algorithmic dumbing-down of healthcare delivery and professional services in general.
It was clear to me that the midwives we spoke to were institutionally blinkered by a top-down obsession with breastfeeding that goes far beyond the breast is best advice and crosses over into something that in my view can and does cause harm. I want to pick up on this point in particular because I have noticed this in many areas of modern life, including in other areas of the NHS, where experienced professionals are prevented from giving the best advice by corporate policies that are presumably an attempt to counteract a lack of training/experience in more junior members of staff.
In our case, when our daughter was not gaining weight fast enough, the focus was exclusively on my partner's breastfeeding technique, which while not perfect was certainly good enough. Our daughter was latching fine, and getting fed, yet we had several sessions where her breastfeeding technique was analysed. If we had all instead stopped for a moment and looked at the root cause of her weight loss, we would have realised that my attempts at cup feeding (the only other feeding method endorsed by the midwives) were failing, and that since my partner was possibly not producing enough milk yet we should be topping up with bottle-fed formula.
We eventually worked out how to deal with the situation ourselves, and helped by a brilliant and experienced midwife (whom I won't name for obvious reasons) who was prepared to take a more pragmatic approach and help us not worry about getting it wrong, we quickly got back on track.
This has been a common theme in the discussions we've had since becoming parents, from experienced midwives about to give excellent advice that begins with - I shouldn't tell you this but..., to the story of a new parent so focussed on following the advice that they wouldn't allow their partner to bottle feed, resulting in a lower quality of life for them when their baby now refuses the bottle, along with missed bonding opportunities for their partner.
I fully appreciate that all situations are different - some babies will experience nipple confusion, some won't, and some women will be able to breastfeed exclusively, and some won't - but that just makes my point stronger: You must allow experienced midwives to make their own decisions, based on their professional qualifications and experience. By all means provide guidelines for those with less experience, but they should be able to access the experience of their more senior colleagues rather than be told what to do in this clearly unsuitable one-size-fits-all approach.
"Breastfeeding support"
About: Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital (Wonford) / Maternity Royal Devon & Exeter Hospital (Wonford) Maternity EX2 5DW
Posted by rhinofj78 (as ),
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