Hundreds turn out in Northampton to protest against baby group closure
MORE than 100 mothers refused to keep mum over health funding cuts during a protest march in Northampton against the planned closure of an NHS-funded breast-feeding cafe.
The mums and their children barricaded Wellington Street with buggies then marched on County Hall yesterday lunchtime, in a last-ditch effort to change the minds of health chiefs, who have decided that £16,000 of yearly funding for the Northampton Baby Cafe will be withdrawn.
Protesters said yesterday the health conditions that children could sustain through parents resorting to formula milk, and the associated long term costs to the taxpayer, outweighed the relatively small outlay from the annual £1 billion NHS budget.
Nicky Frost, of Little Billing, who is a breast-feeding support worker, said: “Breast-feeding is a natural thing to do but there are always bumps in the road so help and encouragement is absolutely vital to make sure mothers give it a try and keep going. Many mums would be lost without this service.”
The banner-waving mothers and children were clapped and cheered as they paraded through the town centre at Friday lunchtime, shouting slogans and loudly shaking baby rattles.
Mary Nichol, a former NHS health worker, said: “I saw them protesting and felt I had to come across and sign their petition. I have two daughters aged 17 and 20 and it would have been brilliant to have had the baby cafe’s support when they were young because it is a very vulnerable time.
“It was difficult for me but the health benefits are so immense. It’s outrageous they are even considering removing the money.”
The protesters were just a fraction of the 2,000-plus mums who by yesterday morning had signed paper and online petitions in support of the cafe – based in the Friends Meeting House in Wellington Street – which will close on March 30 without replacement funds to pay rent rates and wages. Since 2004, the cafe has seen more than 1,600 different women and their babies.
Apart from being free, breast-feeding is credited with a reduction in cases of many medical problems in children, from ear infections to diabetes. Surveys show that, without help, 26 per cent of mums revert to bottle-feeding after six months, compared with 49 per cent who have support.
Briony Askew, 38 from Towcester, who breast-fed daughter, Hetty, aged two, said: “We really hope our peaceful protest will make a difference. Mums and babies have such a small voice and we want the NHS to see how much this service means to us and our children. Basically, we want them to reverse their plans.”
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Comments
There are 22 comments to this article
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libbyangel1
Monday, February 20, 2012 at 03:51 PMI have a lot of sympathy for these ladies. They are trying to save a service that is rare in the NHS as it is all about health promotion rather than treating illness. During a recent hospital stay, my friend’s elderly granny was terrorised by an abusive ‘lady’ in the bed next to her who had been admitted owing to her inability to say no to copious amounts of alcohol. Due to her demanding behaviour, the drunk lady had much better service than anyone else on the ward that night. Yet she wasn’t charged for the privilege or refused treatment yet cost (or wasted depending on your point of view) the health service a large amount of money. We all know the dangers of lack of exercise, smoking and drinking and eating too much and now perhaps there should be a discussion about the economics in these hard times of withholding treatment for people who get ill because of indulging in damaging lifestyle choices - particularly if they continue to do so. According to the World Health Organisation, ‘lifestyle’ or non-communicable, diseases worldwide (ie those that are largely preventable) are set to cost the global economy $47 trillion dollars over the next 20 years which amounts to about 75% of global GDP and is bigger than the current global financial crisis. I raise this as a point of discussion and am not for one minute advocating withholding treatment for anyone, but I do feel that there are better places to look for economies rather than dismantling services which are cost effective and clearly a source for good.
Misfit138
Sunday, February 19, 2012 at 10:46 PMThe comment below (10) explains what a Baby Cafe is - and isn't. If people read this - and the article itself - before commenting, there would be less confusion. There is no 'social club' and the hundreds who marched yesterday were not the sum total of families utilising the Northamptonshire Breasfeeding Service - they are protesting on behalf of the thousands who have already been helped and the thousands more who will need specialist breastfeeding support in the near future. As for not being welcome; it's not a case of being unwelcome; it's that a family who have chosen not to breastfeed are unlikely to need Breastfeeding Support Services. There are many services offered by the NHS - most of which I do not personally need at the present time. However, they are vital to others and I would not wish to see them withdrawn simply because they do not benefit me personally.
JoannaT
Sunday, February 19, 2012 at 06:03 PMI chose to formula feed (shoot me now!) and would therefore be unwelcome at this cafe - therefore I don't see why I should pay for it. I'm sure the "Hundreds" of women involved could easily fund their club themselves - membership feesa few extra pence on coffees & teas - surely they can dig deep themselves if they find it so vital.
PJLP
Sunday, February 19, 2012 at 09:51 AMI totally agree with what you say, breastfeeding is natural and should be easy. And I admire your determination to make it work for you. (I should just say that I really wouldn't recommend putting weights in the baby's nappy, instead go to a specialist breastfeeding service and work out why the baby isn't gaining weight. Insufficient gain is often a sign that the latch isn't right or there are other problems and can be dangerous in a small baby). The reality is that most women know very few people who breastfeed, we have lost generations of breastfeeding, reaching a low point in the 70s when it was the norm for midwives to give Mums a tablet to dry up their milk without even asking if they planned to breastfeed. Sadly in most cases advice from friends and relatives is more likely to undermine breastfeeding than support it. And there are many things which are major obstacles to breastfeeding like tongue tie (a tight frenulum under the tongue) which health professionals often fail to diagnose and a specialist can pick up instantly It's thought that 1 in 10 babies or more have these. I know of countless cases of tongue ties diagnosed very late, many of which resulted in Mums giving up. If they had seen a specialist things would have been different for them. Some babies just don't latch on due to a painful birth or being drowsy from pain relief, it takes time and skill to help these Mums and babies to succeed. Like you, I managed without a specialist, and if I didn't have so much contact with other Mums, I would assume that with enough determination, anyone can do it. The reality is very different, I have seen incredibly determined Mums not manage it. Investing in expert breastfeeding services pays for itself many times over in savings in health. Perhaps some time in the future when breastfeeding becomes the norm we won't need the experts but right now we desperately do.
DMT48
Sunday, February 19, 2012 at 02:31 AMEverything can be thought to be easier if you have access to professional experts when you want them. Fewer people would die if you could refer yourself to a consultant instead of having to be so ill that your GP finally sends you, or ending up in casualty. Unfortunately life isn't like that because we do not have unlimited funds available, and less than ever now. I had a lot of miscarriages, and there was no 'expert' support at all - what there was was a group of women who had all had miscarriages and couldn't cope - we used to meet at one of the women's homes, she would make coffee, and we would all contribute. There we could talk, share experiences and helpful tips, as well as contact and other specialist information and books. It used to be called 'self-help', which I realise is unfashionable these days. Breastfeeding is entirely natural and *should* be easy - again, a lot of women are thrown by midwives and health visitors attitudes. In the 80's, they were rigourous about weight and would bully Mums to give up if the baby did not follow the centile they started on. We in our group were not giving in, and put fishing leads in nappies to keep them quiet if the baby was a few ounces short one week. Buy a book - read it. Talk to mums who have breastfed - ask your own Mums and sisters. There are simple principles to breastfeeding, which if not followed, can easily cause someone to give up, but are mostly easily remedied. Nobody needs a lactation 'expert' - it is not going to help a woman who is so stressed that her milk won't come down. The best help a woman can get is an experienced woman who can be there when it matters, and information which she can get herself or from others. Women should talk more - everybody should talk to one another more and stop trying to live their lives in isolation, with only experts for advice.
PJLP
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 11:56 PMI'm a breastfeeding Mum and live close to Northampton but in a different county. I also work with pregnant women. I have seen so many women plan to breastfeed and not manage it and so trained with the NHS as a volunteer Mum to Mum supporter to try and help them. Since then I've also done the training that midwives and health visitors do. All of this has made me realise that it is incredibly difficult to help Mums to breastfeed if they are struggling, which sadly is most of them. The training I've had doesn't really help since we were taught with a knitted breast and a doll, nothing at all like the real thing. I've tried and mostly failed to help Mums to achieve successful breastfeeding and many would have subsequently given up if I hadn't sent them to specialist lactation consultants like those at Northampton Baby Cafe. Unlike midwives and health visitors who have done the same training as me, I have time to sit with Mums and still I don't succeed. It's no wonder that many midwives and health visitors give up so quickly and suggest a bottle. Unicef figures show that at 1 week only 35% of babies are exclusively breastfed but many many more Mums wished to do this. There is no doubt at all in my mind that specialist services staffed by experts with proven expertise, like Northampton Baby Cafe, are desperately needed. I am currently trying to raise funding to set up a similar service in my town. I agree that breastfeeding should be easy and we shouldn't need to fund experts but sadly it isn't and we do.
CorbyElvis
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 11:46 PMI am shocked by the ignorance of some of the comments on here. I gave up breastfeeding my first daughter, after just over a week, as I, quite simply, just didn't know what I was doing! I was given so much conflicting advice by well-meaning friends and family (as well as my then Health Visitor) that I was overwhelmed. (limit her to 10 minutes on each side, she should weigh such and such by now, top her up with formula, you can't eat that etc etc!) When I had my second daughter in Kettering General (hardly a social club, BTW!), I was offered a breastfeeding advisor - and she was GREAT. I'm sure that I wouldn't still be breastfeeding now otherwise, as I had the same problem as with my first (as well as the added anxiety of knowing that I had already failed once before). The difference was that this time I got proper advice and practical help, If we (my husband and me) had to pay for this help, then we would because it was invaluable, but why should we? After all, we didn't pay the midwives, the paediatrician, the Health Visitor or any of the other healthcare professionals I saw during the birth and early weeks! And no, I don't consider myself a lactation expert now that I've breastfed two children, just as I'm not a childbirth expert now that I've given birth twice - despite my 'inherited knowledge' I still needed the help of an expert - the midwife - for that! JUST BECAUSE IT'S NATURAL , DOESN'T MEAN IT ALWAYS COMES NATURALLY!
adamme
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 10:36 PMIt sounds like the start of a bad joke.... how many 'experts' does it take to help a woman breastfeed?? My wife breastfed two chidren, does she now qualify as a 'lactation expert'??? Groups of women like this are the very REASON so many mothers choose not to breastfeed!! You MAKE it seem exclusive, difficult and like it is necessary to have 20 different types of 'lactation specialists' and a dedicated coffee shop to do it in! I fail to take this seriously, as its a group of middle class mothers with too much time on their hands and nothing better to do, than clutter the town with their Bugaboos and Quinnys, and wail about how unfair things are, and expect the public to have sympathy! A lot of Mums and Tots groups charge a nominal fee... or are the organisers just concerned as to how necessary Mums may deem it to be if they are not being given something for nothing?
DMT48
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 08:30 PM'Lactation experts'?? For God's sake, most women who have breastfed are lactation experts. Support one another voluntarily for goodness sake. What is it that people have to pay for 'experts' in something totally natural and common that they can't trust their own inherited knowledge anymore? Why does everything have to be organised for you at great expense? Women want empowerment and then behave like this. (Yes, I'm a woman)
Removed by moderator
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 06:42 PMThis is the 21st century. Agressive women demanding their rights. I think I would cross over the other side of the road if I saw them coming towards me. Don't you get child benefit to pay for these things? No doubt many of you are being paid for pregnancy leave if you had a job?
Dotty35
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 06:16 PMThere seems to be no distinction between what is needed and what is wanted. A group of militant mothers barricading Wellington Street with buggies because their social club is closing....How wonderful it must be to live in your world where that is something worth protesting about! You want your club, fund it yourselves.
Jabberwocky
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 03:51 PMThis story was hardly newsworthy yesterday so it certainly isn't today. 100 women? Less than 0.1% of the population. There are more people involved in my wife's newt watching circle and that never makes the paper!
Kimberleyrobin
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 02:38 PMThought these points might clarify a few of the comments on here: The Northampton Baby Café: • Name is misleading • It’s a specialist drop-in clinic run by highly skilled facilitators, lactation consultants and breastfeeding advisors • The funding is needed to pay for lactation experts • The Baby Café can be freely accessed by all mothers who need support with breastfeeding • The concept is based on a nationwide model which is proven to work • The Northampton Baby Café is one of the most established and successful drop-ins in the UK The Mum-to-Mum Peer Support Service • An NHS service for pregnant and new mothers in Northamptonshire • The volunteers are mothers who have all breastfed their own babies and are trained to help other breastfeeding mothers • The service is available at Kettering and Northampton General Hospitals on the postnatal ward, Children’s Centres across Northamptonshire and for mothers at home • The funding is needed to train the volunteer peer supporters • Considerable start up costs will be lost for the Mum-to-Mum service, which is only just becoming established Combined: • The two services are proven to alleviate pressure on midwives and health visitors who recognise they are unable to offer the same standard of information and support • More than 7,200 mothers and their families have been helped by the two schemes to date • Mothers in the county were not consulted which is why so many are now saying these important services can’t be lost • The numbers on the online groupspetitionmarch show the incredible support for these services
Links
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 01:14 PM"should", not "old". Damned auto correct!
Links
Saturday, February 18, 2012 at 01:12 PMI fully understand this is offering a useful service and is more than somewhere to have a cosy chat as some have suggested on both this and yesterday's story about it, but I am inclined to agree it shouldn't be coming from the public purse at this time. If there are enough users of it, which it seems there are, then as others have pointed out it old only take a minimal contribution from each to make up the shortfall and keep the scheme going.
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