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More supportive Information for Breastfeeding Mums

Posted By Concerned Mum 100

"More supportive Information for Breastfeeding Mums"

About: Ayrshire & Arran Community Services / Health Visiting - South Ayrshire

(as a parent/guardian),

I recently received a visit from my Health Visitor for my daughter’s 14 month check. At the time of the visit I was given a leaflet on sleep. The leaflet states that by the time your child is 6 months old they can be expected to sleep through most nights. there are then several suggestions as to what to do if your baby wakes in the night. None of the suggestions mention the natural response - breastfeeding. 

I feel that this leaflet is unrealistic, un-supportive and potentially worrying for parents. While some babies do sleep through the night at this age (my first daughter did), it is not the norm. It is healthy for babies to wake up at night and it is what they are designed to do. I feel this is especially relevant to breastfed babies. 

The NHS Ayrshire and Arran Women’s and Children’s Service shared a poster entitled “Ayrshire Maternity Services, Activity for 2018”. This poster details the initiation breastfeeding rate in NHS A&A to be 18%. This rate drops further to 1% at 6 months. The benefits of breastfeeding for mother and child are well known and extensive so these numbers are really worrying for the health of children and future adults in Ayrshire. 

With that in mind I feel that the NHS should be doing everything within their remit to support and promote breastfeeding. Providing leaflets to parents with what I feel is inaccurate information that doesn’t (in the majority of cases) support breastfeeding mums is not constructive. It is normal for babies to wake at night for a number of reasons and many breastfed babies will feed back to sleep. This provides vital comfort and often nutrition well into the toddler years. 

As breastfeeding is sadly not the norm in Ayrshire it can be a confusing and isolating time for new mums who chose to breastfeed. Receiving a leaflet such as this may cause them to question if they are doing something wrong and could in extreme cases lead to the mums giving up breastfeeding in the mistaken belief that this will affect baby’s sleep. The WHO recommends breastfeeding until at least 2 years old and parents should be supported to breastfeed as long as possible or as long as they want to. I don’t believe they should be given cause to question their decisions due to leaflets provided by their own Health Visitor. 

 I believe it would be really beneficial if information provided by the Health Visiting Service was accurate and supportive for all parents in relation to breastfeeding. 

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Responses

Response from Eunice Goodwin, Patient Feedback Manager for NHS Ayrshire and Arran, Quality Improvement and Governance Team, NHS Ayrshire and Arran 5 years ago
Eunice Goodwin
Patient Feedback Manager for NHS Ayrshire and Arran, Quality Improvement and Governance Team,
NHS Ayrshire and Arran

I respond initially to most of the posts and ensure they are passed to the appropriate team whether they are compliments, observations or grumbles. It is important to make sure all issues are addressed and I try to encourage that to happen for all the posts as required.

Submitted on 09/04/2019 at 15:34
Published on Care Opinion at 16:36

picture of Eunice Goodwin

Dear Concerned Mum 100,

I have discussed this with the health visiting team and we plan to review this leaflet.

We are also concerned that the information may be less than helpful and less supportive than it should be. The last thing we want is to undermine the mums who wish to breast feed.

Also, some formula feeding babies may not sleep through at this stage either, so it is helpful for everyone that we review and revise this leaflet.

On the universal pathway there is no leaflet about sleep for this age. Therefore we need to get to the bottom of this and ensure the appropriate leaflet, with the appropriate content is being used across all of NHS Ayrshire and Arran.

It may be helpful for us to know more about your experience and to help us understand more. It would be really helpful to us if you could call 01292 559853 and quote 646237. Then we can address any concerns you have.

Thank you so much for bringing this to our attention, it will be investigated and remedied.

Best wishes,

Eunice

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