>So - in order to commit to breastfeeding - what is done about 
>separating mothers and babies - not allowing moms to have their own 
>babies and breastfeed??  Same issue here about mothers who are 
>prisoners - what is done in our system to promote bonding and 
>breastfeeding - when we KNOW better?


Fortunately not an issue in the UK, and has not been for about  30 
years when 'rooming in' became the norm.  My first baby is almost 30 
years old and then, usual practice was to offer a night in the 
nursery the first night, though many mothers refused it.

Routinely, mothers and babies are kept together on the postnatal ward 
at all times. I don't know of any hospital that has a nursery for 
well babies.

Most well babies are put skin to skin with their mothers immediately 
after birth - including the ones who have said they don't want to bf. 
You have to  'opt out' of skin to skin.

Those of us working in bf support want to see skin to skin extended 
to all post-section babies and for skin to skin to be routine in bed 
with the mother whenever it is possible.

If a baby needs special care or other treatment, it's still routine 
for the mother to be encouraged to stay close and it's more and more 
common for kangaroo care to be encouraged for these babies.

I am not directly familiar with what goes on in prisons, but 
indirectly, I have learnt that in prisons with mother and baby units, 
where possible, mothers and babies are kept close and not separated. 
I am a member of the UK Association for Infant Mental Health and this 
summer we had a great presentation by Tessa Baradon about this 
project:

http://www.annafreudcentre.org/pip_outreach.htm#nb

My own organisation, NCT, has been involved with pregnant women and 
the mother and baby unit at London's Holloway prison, as are other 
organisations, and I have read reports from my colleagues working 
there.  Breastfeeding and staying close to the baby is encouraged and 
enabled.   Here's a recent newspaper piece about life in Holloway:

http://www.mirror.co.uk/life-style/real-life/2009/08/25/babies-behind-bars-what-motherhood-inside-is-really-like-115875-21623831/


I do think the importance of no separation is part of the furniture in the UK.
However, there is a powerful cultural pressure to assess feeding 
adequacy with how long the baby stays asleep, and how willing he is 
to sleep separately from his mother.

Do my UK colleagues agree?
Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc, tutor, UK

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