Went to the breastfeeding support group at Whiston this morning with K and her ds H, and of course my ds, B. Loads of women there! All with a variety of problems and questions. At least eleven (including me and K of course). R was there with her toddler, F; I do love watching a nursing toddler; until I started going to the support group I’d never seen one in “real life” before. And there were many new babies, including one little girl who was just three days old. Gorgeous she was and her Mum had actually come down from the ward.
However N was absolutely overwhelmed. She is the infant feeding team at Whiston. But it isn’t just Whiston hosi women she helps. To be honest I reckon it’s half of bloody Merseyside. Liverpool Women’s was no use to me after I’d had B, and I had to go and find N and her expertise. I wonder how many more women like me have very little support at the hospital in which they give birth? Why can’t the hosi give her a few more midwives and get them trained up to assist her? R helps of course, and K & I try to help as much as we can (we’re not fully trained Peer Supporters yet mind) but she needs more skilled “professional” help… basically she does need an Infant Feeding Team, like the people I never got to see at the Women’s.
The young lady who had visited about four months ago, with her baby boy, C was back again. I recall the first time I saw her, she’d come to ask if feeding every two hours was normal. At the time B was feeding pretty much every thirty minutes and staying on for forty 
(I can make jokes about it now… at the time I was desperate!) I remember thinking what I wouldn’t have given for a baby that fed once every two hours! She had come back because her Health Visitor had expressed concern that her ds still wasn’t sleeping through the night. Oh for goodness’ sake.
Me and K gave our experiences, K with H and how he used to sleep through but no longer did, and me with how B snacks often but I hardly notice because we co-sleep. I tried to skirt around the issue because you never know how people are going to respond. The woman was with her Mum, and sometimes the older generation in particular can be a bit iffy about co-sleeping.
N cut to the chase however. In a perfunctory way she asked, “do you smoke?” (no) “are you under the influence of alcohol or drugs?” (no) “then take him into the bed and feed him lying down. If you fall asleep during that it doesn’t matter. If you wake up and can be bothered then you can put him back in his cot.
Simple! I’m going to try that.
We then got to chatting about what to wear in bed as, when co-sleeping, you have to have the blanket around your waist; I recommended an old sweatshirt, cut down the neck to the chest so your boobs are exposed but your back and arms are still warm.
A woman L came in with her ds whose name I can’t recall. L’s ds was ten months old and was walking almost unaided. Gorgeous little boy, although clearly not in a smiley mood. She saw me leave with B in his sling and said her ds loved his sling too.
Might be some mileage in creating a Merseyside babywearing group yet!
