Heather, you say "I think also we are talking cultural differences here -
what do you
reckon, Magda?  I really don't think UK mothers or their HPs would
respond well to a bf log - it would be something very new and could
even be considered intrusive. US mothers may accept it more readily,
and may even take heart from it."

I seem to remember that when I had my American babies here in the UK there
were some hospitals which had input output type charts at the foot the bed
(tho not in the hospital where I gave birth to my son, and certainly not in
my home where I gave birth to my daughter).  I remember that the unofficial
advice about these charts given in the mother-to-mother support group I went
to was: lie.

I was intrigued the other week to be told by a UK midwife I offered the LLLI
sheet on mastitis that women in the UK tend never take their temperatures so
distinguishing non-infectious (or obstructive) mastitis from infectious
mastitis partly on that basis would be unhelpful.  Having lived here for
over 20 years (crikey!) I didn't know that -- some of the cultural
differences are pretty taken for granted and you don't know if you don't ask
the right question.

I wrote down all kinds of info when Olaf was a baby -- mostly to prove to
myself that I was not going crazy and imagining how often he fed (and how I
wish someone had told me that it was normal -- and helped me with
positioning).  It didn't make me feel secure that he was getting enough or
anything -- it was more a cry for help -- to myself, because I had no one
else to cry to.  I would not have needed it if I had had any decent skilled
support on breastfeeding.

I also remember visiting a woman (years ago) who had a record of feedings
which went like "12:42: 7 and a half minutes on the right side", which I
remember feeling told me exactly nothing.  But you can't prove a cultural
point because not only was she orthodox Jewish (a sub-culture which might
not be expected to have the same cultural rules as the dominant UK one) but
she was American as well.

As to whether UK HPs would respond well....they might if it were another
page in the little red book (child health record, not Mao's) - any thoughts
you UK hps?

"Maybe there should be an RCT of bf logs - seriously."

Absolutely.  I have just been to a presentation (of an MSc research project)
where a sheet with positioning info was given to hospital staff (any info
they gave on positioning the baby they refered to this sheet) as an
intervention trial, with a control and the women were followed up.  We
should trial these things because so many things have been tried.  I they do
work, they are not disseminated.  If they don't work, no one has checked to
see if they are doing more harm than good or equal amounts of harm as good
or whatever.

Magda Sachs
Breastfeeding Supporter, BfN, UK

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