lack of information

Ok so i was driving in my car today and thinking about how many mums say that there is no info out there for mums who want to formula feed... and then i started thinking about what info is out there for new mums... and then i realise there isnt much info for any of it. Most of the stuff you get from midwives, antenatal classes etc is the same stuff just worded differently. every breast feeding article is the same, the formula feeding pamphlet i read is the same as the stuff in the baby book i got... oh and lets not forget the complete lack of information for c section mums. I had to practically beg the hospital for the booklet on it and in the end they had to photocopy one for me, after searching the hospital for the original.

sure we have resources like OHbaby and other message boards, but a lot of that comes into play after the fact. like for me there was great info about c sections on here but i certainly would have liked to have that while in hospital.

anyway it was just something that i was pondering on while in the car today. feel free to agree/disagree, share where you got great info from or some resources you found particularly helpful or unhelpful.   

I think the best resource ever for us was and is these forums. I'm forever asking dumb questions.

But in saying that, the one thing that should be given out to every parent when they get that BFP is The Happiest Baby on the Block dvd. I'm so glad we watched it before Harry was born.

And I totally agree that resources say the same things just in different ways. A lot of them aren't specific enough, which is why it's so good to actually have other people's experiences.

yeah i also found it very hard and am sure alot of other mums do to.. when returning to work/study after having a baby when they are breastfeeding. I made a resource booklet as part of my nursing study outlining the steps to take for this to be successful and am now turning it into a resource for our unit mums to use... cos lets face it, usually whether your bubs is prem or not, at some point you'll have to return to work, some sooner than later, and for those who still want to BF during that time, there are certainly ways and means.. but not many people actually ever tell mums about them. I've set about trying to fix this, as far as i know, the health dpt (or whoever the heck it is) only have 1 pamphlet, (v small pamphlet) about it. I will be fixing that for our mums very soon, I just had to fumble my way through with what i was doing with ayja and hope like heck it was right.

Edited by mum2paris

I agree too, all the information my MW gave me and even the stuff from antenatal looked retro...  Ohbaby has been invaluable to me. 

but the difference is Deb - that if you do need to ask for info on BFing it is pretty forthcoming and there are agencies like LLL that fall over themselves to help you.
If you have FF issues - who do you go to?
When I asked my Plunket Nurse, I was told in no uncertain terms that she "couldn't help me" and that she didn't know who to refer me to other than my GP

I agree 100% re the no info for CS mums. It's just disgusting!

Also, thank goodness for Oh Baby! It is a fantastic resource not just for all of the parents that offer their own experiences but also the well written articles that don't treat you like an idiot

i asked for info on c section and everyone said oh haven't you been given any? (noone else had either) i found absolutely nothing on FF..still haven't and AN we had to ask about it after class...lol.. lack on information leads to googling and we know what happens then..i cant see why every new mum cant get a booklet in her bounty pack with basic (useful) info!!:) the chiro was horrified i wasn't given exercises for after my c-section either..

I was sooooo clueless when I had Maya, I had no idea how long feeding took, how much they were supposed to sleep, how often to change/bath them, and I didn't know that the time between feeds is from START of feed to START of feed not END of feed to start of next feed.... I just muddled thru, the best advice I got was from Family Centre when she was three weeks old and that was to feed her three hourly during the day and then only when she woke during the night. It worked brilliantly with her, with the gremlins not so much...

Maya wrote: I was sooooo clueless when I had Maya, I had no idea how long feeding took, how much they were supposed to sleep, how often to change/bath them, and I didn't know that the time between feeds is from START of feed to START of feed not END of feed to start of next feed....

I was much the same when Jack was born. I didn't know about self settling, didn't even think to read any books before hand. OhBaby has been great for me but I only stumbled across it when I was at a Mothers Group run by our AN Midwife when Jack was a few months old. I am still clueless alot of the time as to where to go to get some info. I would have liked a class as well as AN that focused on after Jack was born and covered more about sleeping, self settling etc etc. I think these classes are out there but where do you look?
My Mum was great but she fed us kids when we cried, fed to sleep etc so wasn't able to give me any other options to try and she didn't know where else to direct me.
Our MW was great (will hopefully use her again when we have #2) but the first few weeks/months/year! were so overwhelming I didn't really know the questions to ask.
If I could and had the knowledge and resources I would love to set up a place that teaches these sorts of things and provides the resources to help new mums and dads

If anyone wants copies of Recovery after ceasarean which our ol Auckland Ceasarean support group use top publish in the eighties pm me. we were just mums but we got funding from cogs and now that there is no ceasarean support group there are no booklets for the hospitals to give out unfortunately

I second the AND thing, I felt terrible as everyone did assume I didn't want Jack (so not true at all!). The FF info is ridiculous, and I had such a cr*p m/w that she basically told me to b/f or else. She also said I shouldn't give Jack EBM even though it was the only way to get some milk into him in the first couple of weeks without giving him formula.

But its never going to change. Think about how back in the day people got 1-2 weeks in hospital to learn all of that stuff, now you're lucky if you get 2 when you have a natural birth. I had the people at St George's knocking at my door at 8am on the day of discharge asking me when I was leaving. I said 'Oh, I thought I had till 11am?' They said that that's the LATEST possible time for someone to leave. WTF?