"Breastfeeding information from the staff"

Before and after giving birth to my first child through the Family Birth Center at King Edwards I received a lot of conflicting information from care providers on how to effectively breastfeed. I participated in the online Breastfeeding Class hosted by King Edwards hospital, received visits from multiple midwives from the FBC at King Edwards after giving birth, have had multiple appointments with the Lactation Consultants at the Breastfeeding Center of WA and had an appointment with my Child Health Nurse through City of Cockburn. 

Lots of the information I have received has been conflicting including information on how to hand express colostrum and milk, positions and holds to best encourage my baby to latch, the amount of pain I should tolerate as a result of trying to breastfeed my baby, what size flange fits my nipples for the breastfeeding pump, the significance of the noise a baby makes when consuming milk and the amount I should let my baby cry at the nipple when encouraging them to feed. 

The most useful and effective information by far has come from the Lactation Consultants at the Breastfeeding Center of WA. This is of no surprise to me considering this is their specialty. After seeing 2 different consultants at the lactation center, I found that both had consistent information which was easy to follow, based on research and pain free for both baby and I. It also produced the best results. 

I'm somewhat confused that the consultants from the Breastfeeding Center are not the only people running the online Breastfeeding Information Sessions put on by King Edwards considering they're the specialists. I feel this would encourage consistency and validity in breastfeeding education for patients who access this service. I think it would also be incredibly valuable to have all midwives and doctors at King Edwards hospital receive ongoing professional development from the Breastfeeding Center to ensure information given to patients is up to date with the latest research and consistent from all sources.