Hospital Discriminates Against Bottle-Feeding Mums
Posted by Amber Robinson at 12:00 PM on November 21, 2008
A UK hospital has sparked outrage by unveiling cost-cutting plans to stop supplying free milk to newborn babies.
New mothers will continue to receive free meals, but will have to buy £5 tokens from maternity ward machines to exchange for a pack of 10 bottles and teats (sounds cheap to me!)
The Rochdale Infirmary, run by the Pennine Acute Trust, stands to save $AU120,000 a year, though it claims it will sell the milk at cost. Mothers will not even be able to make their own formula or use milk prepared at home as there are no facilities to mix or store it.
So, seeing as mothers are free to breastfeed, is this discrimination?
A senior consultant at the hospital added: ‘While we encourage breastfeeding, many women are simply unable to do so. To charge them is absolutely preposterous. The ability to pay could affect how much nourishment a baby receives in its crucial first days.
The hospital argues it is unfair to ’subsidise women who choose not to breastfeed’ and stress that babies with medical requirements will have feeds given free.
I remember when I was in hospital breastfeeding was strongly encouraged, and if you wished to use formula you had to fetch your own bottles etc from the supply room. But conversely, when I had problems feeding, a dose of formula was strongly encouraged.
We hear more and more about the benefits of breastfeeding every day. If women truly can’t feed (and the hospital has lactation consultants on hand to assist), I have no problem with charging patients for their choice.
Does that make me a lactavist?
That makes perfect sense really. To imply that babies will starve because they don’t get free food in hospital is ridiculous. If they can’t afford to buy artificial milk in hospital, how on earth will they manage at home?
Breastfeeding should be the first choice for everyone, the vast majority can do it with adequate support and help where required. To encourage formula by offering it for free is close to negligence on the part of the hospitals as caregivers IMO. It detracts from the health of the baby.
Are you a lactavist? Hmmm, probably. Its not a dirty word and really, I think its sort of silly. Breastfeeding is normal and shouldn’t be seen as a cause that needs support or to be championed. I think if anyone needs a label its those that choose to formula feed. They’re the ones who are different and doing something out of the ordinary.