Bottle feeding a ‘dirty little secret’

New mums say breast-is-best puts too much pressure on them and their kids. By Danielle Clent.

NEESHA Morar’s son Dilan lost 11 per cent of his body weight after being born at Auckland City Hospital in May.

She says she was told by hospital midwives that there was ‘‘too much paperwork’’ to provide her newborn son with formula.

Morar, who had an emergency caesarean, said she did not receive the support she needed. ‘‘The hospital midwives would not give him formula at all,’’ she said.

After three days in hospital, she discharged herself. Morar said the situation was disappointing and stressful and new mums needed more support.

Morar is not alone – mums across the country have spoken out about the lack of support for bottle-feeding.

Nationally, five out of six women leave hospital breastfeeding their babies, but just one in five women are exclusively breastfeeding by six months, according to figures from Plunket and the Ministry of Health.

Helensville Birthing Centre recently celebrated its 95 per cent success rate of mums exclusively breastfeeding their babies when they left the centre.

However, Emma Purdue, who stayed at the Helensville Birthing in 2012, said staff forced her to breastfeed against her wishes.

Purdue had supply issues with her first two babies and knew it would happen with her third.

She planned to express breast milk to bottle-feed her newborn baby Carter, however, she said staff told her not to express, and even refused plastic cups to hand express into.

‘‘They wouldn’t even let me sterilise my pump so I could express,’’ she said. ‘‘It was just so forced upon me by these women that I had no choice.’’

Purdue posted her story on social media, sparking more than 500 comments from mothers who faced similar pressure at hospitals and birthing centres.

Helensville Birthing Centre lactation consultant Debbie Tetlow said it was rare for women not to initiate breastfeeding.

‘‘There is so much known about the benefits of breastfeeding and the hazards of formula feeding,’’ Tetlow said.

The birthing centre recently received its fourth consecutive accreditation under the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI), a programme that promotes breastfeeding.

As part of the BFHI’s 10 steps to breastfeeding success, infants were not given anything other than breast milk unless medically indicated, she said.

Auckland DHB director of women’s health Dr Sue Fleming said they supported women in their infant feeding choices and the hospital was accredited under the BFHI.

Where alternative feeding options were appropriate, staff worked with the mother to meet her and the baby’s needs.

New Zealand Breastfeeding Alliance (NZBA) Learning and development facilitator Dianne Powley said most mothers were capable of breastfeeding.

If a mother requested formula. she needed to make an informed decision as there can be risks.

‘‘A consent form will usually need to be signed. This is because in years gone by many babies were given formula unbeknown to the parents.’’

Most small hospitals did not hold infant formula on site, but bigger hospitals did because they had a higher degree of mothers and babies with complications, she said.

Ministry of Health maternity principal advisor Bronwen Pelvin said health professionals were encouraged to provide nonjudgmental advice about alternatives, such as formula, when breastfeeding can’t be established.

Although individual district health boards set its own policies, the ministry provided guidance. Policies included requiring a mother to sign a consent form to use formula to ensure she understood the effects.

When Hawke’s BaymumNici Baldwin gave birth to son Oliver in February, she knew she would struggle with breastfeeding as she had with her first baby.

Baldwin was refused infant formula and ended up calling her husband at 3am to deliver formula to her screaming son Oliver.

She was required to sign three different forms to use formula.

‘‘I was made to feel like I was a complete and utter failure. It was horrible. It was really horrible.’’

There was a lack of information about formula feeding and when it is given, it’s made out to be ‘‘a dirty little secret’’.

The hospital midwives would not give him formula at all.’ NEESHA MORAR, ABOVE WITH BABY DILAN