(Cross posted at In a Strange Land)
The Labour government in New Zealand has proposed legislation to support breastfeeding. Specifically, employers will be required to provide private space for breastfeeding mothers to feed their babies, or to express milk. There will be flexibility for small employers, but workplaces with more than a few female staff will be expected to provide space. For anyone who is getting grumpy about this 'extra cost' imposed on employers, I'm guessing that it could be as simple as providing a screened off area in the lunchroom, or even just access to an office with a door that can be closed a couple of times a day.
I can't help thinking that this is tinkering around the edges, and that the government is still refusing to follow through on its alleged commitment to supporting breastfeeding. As I have written before, when commenting on the Baby Friendly Hospital initiative, it takes time and effort to establish breastfeeding. For the first day or two or three after giving birth, a mother's breasts produce colostrum, and the milk only comes in at day two or three. That can be a painful and difficult experience, but it's also exactly when you need to learn to get the baby latched on and drinking. You need lots of support and help, and ideally, you need to be able to do nothing except concentrate on your baby. But what do we do with new mothers at that time? We ask them to leave hospital.
There are plenty of women who find breastfeeding easy, who have support at home, who don't have other children to run around after, who don't need to get up and prepare meals and wash clothes and clean the house. For them, leaving hospital at day one or two or three may not be a big deal, and may even be highly desirable. I know that all I wanted to do when my eldest daughter was born was to get out the door and take her home, especially after the other bed in the room I was in was filled, with a mother who had the telly permanently on the soaps. But many, many women need to have support and help with establishing breastfeeding, and that support and help is most readily available in maternity wards and units.
If the government is really committed to supporting breastfeeding, then it needs to fund maternity wards properly, so that women can stay in hospital for more than a day or two if they need to, in order to establish breastfeeding. Alternatively, they need to fund out-patient services properly, so that new mothers can access help with a phone call, twenty-four hours a day.
5 comments:
"Alternatively, they need to fund out-patient services properly, so that new mothers can access help with a phone call, twenty-four hours a day." Independent Midwives should be providing this service. I used to anyway and would visiting new mums daily for the first weeke (in hospital or at home). The finding sucks but it is a prescribed part of the job. Also I am mum 2 three small children and had my last baby (now 8 months) at home. My partner was very sick at the time and coping with it all with no family support was a nightmare. Being my 3rd, the baby part was the easy bit but it made me VERY aware of how much support is really required. I get really annoyed when family say "this woman should be in hospital for 10-14 days post-birth" when actually providing excellent family support at home is a really good answer. The best part for me was our local homebirth support group roster that provided meals for a week. Now if this was available to all women (no matter where they birth) it would be an excellent start. Please note I am promoting support at home not a particular place/mode of birth
In my experience being at home with access to good community support would be far more beneficial than keeping a woman in hospital longer. When my first was born six years ago I was kept in hospital for five days because he wasn't feeding well, however I found the lack of privacy, constant disturbances and interruptions and absence of a comfortable seat detrimental to getting anything working. Add to that a long wait for a very brief visit from an over worked LC and a lot of bad and conflicting advice from the nursing staff and things looked pretty grim. Going home where I was comfortable and private and able to follow my own routines made a big difference in my ability to cope.
I don't want to keep women in hospital longer, but I do want them to be able to make that choice. At present, all the pressure is on them to leave, as soon as possible. That's pretty hard for new mums, especially if they have just been through a difficult labour.
And yes, properly funded outpatient services would be fantastic.
But these all require the government to put its money where its mouth is, instead of just coming out with platitudes about supporting breastfeeding mothers.
Governments of either persuasion, BTW.
I agree with artandmylife, my Midwife was fantastic support for me at home, I wish I'd had meals for a week!
Remember back in the day when there were Maternity Units? Women need support, often not at home because of the dynamics there which mean she is unlikely to be able to rest (think low socio-economic households) or get the breastfeeding support they need. However they don't need to be in hospital unless there is a clinical need.
The present situation just underlines how little we value mothers, children and families.
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