Can feeding go diastrously wrong?

Rarely, is the answer according to some of the latest studies.

In this article published by the Guardian, the research found that "almost every baby is able to breastfeed and problems were usually caused by a lack of support that meant a child did not attach properly to the breast or was not fed often enough."

Generally it seems to be unfamiliarity with breastfeeding - especially the technicalities of breastfeeding - that cause the two most common issues.  Anne Woods, deputy programme manager for Unicef's Baby Friendly Initiative (BFI, lays the blame for this partly at the door of bottle feeding, describing how some women do not realise that " the whole of the baby's mouth has to make contact and draw the breast tissue into the mouth.

"But because we have a bottle-feeding culture in the UK," she said, "some women do not realise this and "try to bottle-feed with their breast", so the baby takes only the nipple and does not get enough milk."

The other key problem, and one that we come across often in the Baby Cafe, is lack of frequency in feeds.  As Ms Woods puts it:
"There is [...] an expectation she said, that a baby will feed and then sleep for four hours.  Yet most adults eat or drink more than six times in 24 hours, she said -even if it is only a cup of tea and a biscuit."

So if you are concerned that your baby seems to be feeding too much check your latch and check your expectations, but if in doubt get yourself along to a Baby Cafe or support group near you and get the advice you need and deserve.

To conclude allow us to quote the final paragraph of the case study included at the end of that article, written by Annalisa Barbieri:

"When breastfeeding doesn't go to plan many women get angry with each other, when the people we should be really venting to are those who make the policies that decree we are not worthy of specialised, uniform, qualified support. Don't write to me about your breastfeeding journey; write to Jeremy Hunt (huntj@parliament.uk)."