Masochistic Mommy

If a health professional administered a drug to your child that later left them with chronic health problems, they would be guilty of medical negligence. They may very well lose their job over it, and rightly so. However, this degree of justice is routinely denied to the most vulnerable of patients. Indeed, there is a loophole in patient protection, whereby health professionals can administer medication without consent and against the patient’s best interests. Yup, I’m talking about formula. This is the heartbreaking story of baby Hermione who, when born prematurely, was given formula against her mother’s express wishes. She later went on to become very ill indeed. “In March 2012 I gave birth to my daughter, Hermione, four weeks early and weighing 4lb and 8oz.  I had planned a home birth and to breastfeed immediately but as my waters broke at 36 weeks I was induced in hospital. It was a fast labour and I was very sleepy and nauseous throughout. Separation As Hermione was early and ...

Giving birth prematurely can provoke feelings of maternal inadequacy. The guilt of one’s inability to carry the pregnancy to full term is confounded by the fact that there is very little Mom can do to help her baby while he is confined to the NICU. Is it any wonder that mothers of preemies typically feel like helpless outsiders deferring to an army of health professionals? There is, however, one gift a mother can give her premature baby that no health professional can – her unique breast milk. Not only does Mom’s breast milk confer unparalleled healing properties to her baby, it also instils in Mom a sense of maternal responsibility and control which can aid in her mental recovery. Win-win right? Alas, in too many instances, a jostle for control ensures between the mother and the health professionals; the premature baby being viewed by the latter, as an open invitation to over-zealous intrusion, as this story illustrates: “During my pregnancy a routine midwife appointment picked up on ...

When a baby is born early, breastfeeding is arguably the most important thing a mother can do to facilitate survival. Breast milk will help the baby’s vulnerable tummy to mature and fight infection. It is also much easier for the baby's immature stomach to digest than formula. Further, it contains hormones and growth factors that help the baby grow and become stronger. Suffice to say it is therefore of paramount importance that mothers of premature babies are supported to breastfeed. Yet many hospital routines make it difficult for mothers and premature babies to breastfeed successfully. One reason is that many of the ‘techniques’ used to save the lives of premature babies were developed during the 1960’s and 1970’s when breastmilk, never mind breastfeeding, really wasn’t a priority in neonatal intensive care units (NICU’s). Unfortunately, despite much about what we have learned since that time, NICU’s seem to be, in general, with some exceptions of course, resistant to change. Eve...

I have enormous respect for your knowledge, training and hard-won experience, but I have zero understanding or tolerance for any fence-sitting you may still be engaging in concerning breast milk and breastfeeding. If you have a cultural blind spot or two to overcome, that’s fine; go ahead and do it. After all, your health degree doesn’t make you any less a product of the larger society and culture in which you were born, came of age and were educated. But do you really think you have a valid excuse for not coming down routinely on Mother Nature’s side? If so, I wonder what it might be. It seems to me that the abundant, readily available, and overwhelmingly clear and convincing scientific and epidemiological evidence speaks for itself – and certainly a lot louder than I can. As a group you are seen as authorities on every aspect of maternal and child care and nutrition; thus you are in a unique position to influence the organization and functioning of health services for mothers before,...

In the UK there is a postpartum surveillance culture. Throughout their offspring’s early childhood, each mother (it is invariably mothers, fathers fall under the radar) is policed by a team of health professionals who are employed to monitor the adequacy of her parenting. The first year of parenthood is arguably the most scrutinised. An army of midwives and health visitors weigh and measure the child, carrying out various intellectual and physical tests and other ‘risk-assessment measures’. All of this is concealed under the guise of ‘supporting mothers’. However, as you are about to read, far from being supportive, the postpartum surveillance culture is hostile and mistrusting, particularly of breastfeeding. The following story perfectly illustrates the tragedy of this government-sanctioned invasion of privacy. “In May 2010 my son was born, 3 weeks late due to incompetent staff at my NHS hospital. I informed them several times they had my dates wrong due to when I got my positive pre...