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Several mums have called for better practical and mental health support around breastfeeding, describing how they felt “left to their own devices”, “pressure and judged” or “left to suffer” in a review of Jersey's maternity services.
The Health and Social Security Scrutiny Panel reviewed maternity services earlier this year following concerns about the state of the ward and its infection control standards, among other issues.
Since the launch of the review, several mums have written to the Panel to share their experience of the services as well as discuss areas of improvement.
In addition to calling for better facilities, including en-suite rooms or air conditioning, several of the mums called for better support for breastfeeding, with one of them describing how mums are “sort of left to [their] own devices and get told conflicting advice by midwives”.
Pictured: Parents have called for better facilities in the maternity ward.
One woman said “dedicated, paid, trained breastfeeding support” should be a priority along with “private labour rooms with en-suite toilets facilities”, noting the current support provision is “hit or miss and not consistent enough”.
The inconsistency of the provision was mentioned by another mum who was “desperate” to breastfeed but wasn’t able to, adding that she wished she had had “better help to achieve this”.
“I’d have one midwife who’d sit and help the baby latch and feed, and then say, ‘I’ll pop back in an hour to try again and we’ll get you breastfeeding’ then I’d ring the buzzer an hour-and-a-half later and ask for that midwife - to be told she’s gone home,” she wrote.
Several mums described how they had felt pressured to breastfeed even when it was painful or they struggled to.
Pictured: A Health Visitor and Postnatal Specialist said new parents had reported feeling "somewhat bewildered" by the “huge range of different and inconsistent advice offered".
Health Visitor and Postnatal Specialist, Yvette Jones of NCT Jersey, mentioned in her submission that parents had often raised the issue of the “huge range of different and inconsistent advice offered which can leave new parents somewhat bewildered” as well as “the often perceived overenthusiastic promotion of breastfeeding”.
In February, the Government announced that the unit had achieved Stage 1 of UNICEF's Baby Friendly initiative, after staff received specific training on the benefits of breastfeeding and developed guidelines on how staff will help mothers on their breastfeeding journey.
“Working in line with UNICEF recommendations on breastfeeding is acknowledged, but there is regular feedback of feeling pressured and judged if breastfeeding is not the chosen path,” the Postnatal Specialist wrote to the Panel.
One mum said the midwives showed her the basics, including assistance with breastfeeding, after the birth of her child. She then described how her baby was continually “forced” onto her breast, even though she was not able to latch her baby onto her breast.
“Since that first feed whenever I tried to breastfeed our son, I was in agony,” the mum wrote. “I asked the midwife if I could try using formula in a bottle for the baby and she glared at me and said I should keep trying to breastfeed. I said that I was in pain every time I would breastfeed and she said I had to keep going.
“I felt like a terrible mum for not being able to breastfeed properly and even worse for suggesting using formula. After three agonising days I was discharged and, as soon as I got home, I asked my husband to get baby formula and a breast pump (as I still wanted my child to have breast milk).”
Pictured: "It should be whatever the mother feels comfortable with doing and that there should be no judgement," one mum said.
The mum explained that the community midwife that visited after birth was more “understanding” and advised her on the best way to use a breast pump and how to store the milk.
“I felt a bit better that I could still give my son breast milk even though it was through a bottle and not my breast – I had developed mastitis and cracked nipples,” she added.
“I now have a new perspective on breast-feeding versus formula and it should be whatever the mother feels comfortable with doing and that there should be no judgement.”
The woman called for midwives to receive more training on breastfeeding and for a mother’s choice to use formula to be respected. She also called for better help for new mums once they return home, “especially those feeling excluded due to them being perceived as doing something wrong as a mother (such as, choosing to use formula instead of breastfeeding)”.
Pictured: Some mums said they had struggled to feed their babies in the first few weeks after birth.
Her calls were also echoed by another mum who wrote “there is a serious lack of education around breastfeeding and especially the identification of tongue and lip ties which cause serious issues to a babies breastfeeding ability”.
“I breastfed my first child for two-and a-half years with no thanks to the support received from any of the professionals here,” she said. “I was told his latch looked great and left to suffer through bleeding nipples, excruciating pain and recurrent mastitis because no one can identify a posterior tongue tie."
Another mother pointed out that while the midwives in hospital “gave her a great start” with breastfeeding, she struggled to continue in the first few weeks, adding “there really was very little support”.
“Health visitors / community midwives say it shouldn’t hurt if you’re doing it properly, but I don’t know anyone who didn’t experience some discomfort (pain!) in those early weeks,” she said. “Being told that just makes new mums feel like they’re getting it wrong. Also, the only advice I got seemed to be about getting the latch right. They’d observe me feeding and say it was a good latch, yet I was still feeling pain, so it wasn’t overly helpful.
“The only reason I breastfed for a year with my first was because of the support my own mother gave to me, without her I would have almost certainly given up. Not everyone has that family support though.”
“Breastfeeding has so many benefits for both the mother and baby and most mums who have managed to do it will tell you it’s one of the hardest bits of new motherhood,” she added. “That surely indicates that robust support should be given to mums to help them in their breastfeeding journey.”
Pictured: "The mantra ‘breast is best’ completely disregards what might be best for a mother’s mental health and as a consequence, her bond with her baby," one mum wrote.
In addition to practical support, one woman called for mental health support for the women are suffering “under the monumental societal pressure to breastfeed”.
“The pendulum has swung way too far in the other direction,” she wrote. “The mantra ‘breast is best’ completely disregards what might be best for a mother’s mental health and as a consequence, her bond with her baby. I do think health visitors need to recognise when a woman wants support to continue her breastfeeding journey and when she needs to stop for her own emotional well-being and that of her child.”
Describing the lack of support available in the island, one mum wrote that the Government is “failing all mothers and babies on the island by providing completely inadequate support”.
“Successful breastfeeding leads to healthier children and mothers both physically and mentally and so will relieve pressures on other areas of the healthcare system in the long-run,” she added. “I am extremely lucky that I can afford to pay for care privately, but many cannot and rely on that provided by the Government and I feel extremely sorry for them.”
To take part in the Scrutiny review, you can send your comments by e-mail to scrutiny@gov.je, contact the Panel directly or send a message to the Government’s social media pages.
The panel is also running an online survey until Thursday 1 April which you can complete HERE.
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