i really wish i had tried harder to bf. (read earlier post on my story). but there really does need more info on bf and how to overcome problems. also lcs should be covered by medicare. most of us can't afford an lc but feel they needed one. one mum mentioned that formula should be prescription only. not fair. if its late at night and if u were desperate, in a hell of a lot of pain with a hungry baby, would u be ok to wait at a doctor's office or emergency room for a prescription and then have to find an open chemist or wait till morning? its not fair. we should be supporting eachother, not going around and saying formula is bad and artificial. yes its not breastmilk but it does provide nourishment when u can't. continuity of care and education are so important. but we still need to support those who can't bf. i had huge guilt. i felt like i failed. half the mums in my mum's group formula feed and we don't see it any different to bf. one bub had horrendous reflux, another was lactose intolerant and after 6 kinds of formula was put on soy formula and is doing better. the other ff mums had various supply and damage problems. if the availability of formula was taken away, it makes it harder on those who have no choice. i'm 21 this year. my baby is 4 months old. i so wanted to breast feed and if i had continuity of care and more education i reckon i would still be bf. sure we all get those books when we see the doc or midwife during the pregnancy but i had bad attachment. i followed those books so well. when the midwife actually helped me stick my daughter on, then i felt i got it right. but then i got damaged (after they healed during a few days of expressing (didn't get enough milk anyway, still had to supplement) the damage came back) and had letdown issues and when i was getting my supply back, she refused it and was happy on the bottle. i kept trying. i expressed. 40ml in 3 days is not enough. if i had continuity of care i would have had meds to increase supply and someone to help. not the case. so we need to stop making ff mums feel bad and tell them what they need to hear. they aren't failures. they didn't take to easy way out (formula is costly and washing and sterilising, and warming it up is a pain in the a**). they just found another way to feed their babies rather than push on with pain, and putting their babies health at risk. but on the other hand, those that never tried to bf or never asked for help are the ones that make the rest of us feel so bad and get judged way too quickly.
sorry for another long post, this is a very emotional issue.