you would not believe this

[Anne Rogers]

in my very disasterous way I ended up spending last night in hospital, no
reason why I couldn't breastfeed, except for the fact the baby was 5 miles
away. One of the night nurses mentioned they could get a pump for me in
the morning, no probs I thought, and in the morning I asked (by this time
I had seen the doctor who had also strongly said I needed to express
milk). Clearly there is no formal policy for what to do in that situation
and even though I was in the same hospital maternity were only prepared to
hire me one at a rate of 15 pounds for something I was going to use once,
maybe twice. Fortuntately theu nurse in charge on my ward had trained as a
midwife and in the end used "midwifes honour" to get them to lend it to me
without the charge. So a student nurse was sent up to get it and it turned
out to be a Medela Mini Electric, which I am sure clearly says on the
packet for personal use only. If this is the kind of treatment new mums
get no wonder the UK has such low breastfeeding rates.

-----------
Anne Rogers

[Clare L]

Some weeks back I went to hospital in a middle of the night ambulance. I
have a breast pump but I don't use it and it is in the back of a cupboard
somewhere - heaven only knows.

I was Ok in the morning as DS was brought in mid-morning and mid afternoon
so I got to feed him twice (albeit smaller feeds than normal) as opposed to
the 3 he normally had then. But by the middle of the evening I was feeling a
bit uncomfortable so I asked the nurses if they would phone maternity and
get me a pump. They did so and soon one arrived but it had to go back once I
had finished with it. I don't get much out when expressing even after
feeding for all this time but it was enough to release the pressure. The
next morning when I asked for the pump, maternity had discovered that it was
the only one working - the other ONE was broken - and as they had 6 new mums
that needed it I couldn't have it. So the midwife described over the phone
how to hand express and took myself off to a warm bath to do my impression
of Cleopatra.

It seems that even so called breastfeeding hospitals in the UK think that it
only matters what you do to help mums who have just given birth, not those
who are breastfeeding and get taken into hospital.

When I was had my tonsils taken out when DS was five months old (it couldn't
be put off because it was a re-growth of tonsils and until it was removed
they was a concern it might be something nasty) I took my pump so I could
produce some milk to accompany my freezer stash. I got some very strange
looks when I asked about putting the milk in the fridge and some even
stranger looks when someone came into the room I had taken over to express
in.

Mind you, the old lady in the bed opposite me who had been moaning about
EVERYTHING didn't whinge at all when I was sat in bed expressing at 7 in the
morning and when I came out from behind the curtains said "I bet that feels
better love!"

love
Clare

--
Clare L


"Anne Rogers" > wrote in message
...
> in my very disasterous way I ended up spending last night in hospital, no
> reason why I couldn't breastfeed, except for the fact the baby was 5 miles
> away. One of the night nurses mentioned they could get a pump for me in
> the morning, no probs I thought, and in the morning I asked (by this time
> I had seen the doctor who had also strongly said I needed to express
> milk). Clearly there is no formal policy for what to do in that situation
> and even though I was in the same hospital maternity were only prepared to
> hire me one at a rate of 15 pounds for something I was going to use once,
> maybe twice. Fortuntately theu nurse in charge on my ward had trained as a
> midwife and in the end used "midwifes honour" to get them to lend it to me
> without the charge. So a student nurse was sent up to get it and it turned
> out to be a Medela Mini Electric, which I am sure clearly says on the
> packet for personal use only. If this is the kind of treatment new mums
> get no wonder the UK has such low breastfeeding rates.
>
> -----------
> Anne Rogers
>
>

[Chookie]

In article >,
Anne Rogers > wrote:

> in my very disasterous way I ended up spending last night in hospital, no
> reason why I couldn't breastfeed, except for the fact the baby was 5 miles
> away.

Yikes! Hope you are feeling OK now.

--
Chookie -- Sydney, Australia
(Replace "foulspambegone" with "optushome" to reply)

"Jeez; if only those Ancient Greek storytellers had known about the astonishing
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