Baby Feeding and Relationships
Feeding your baby
Breastfeeding is the healthiest way to feed your baby and doesn’t cost anything. At Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust we will support you in your chosen feeding method and provide you with the information you need to feed your baby confidently and safely. Although possible, it is difficult to resume breastfeeding once you have stopped. Introducing formula feeds whilst breastfeeding reduces a mother’s breast milk supply.
If you use formula milk it is very important for your baby’s health that you follow all the instructions to make the feed and sterilise any equipment correctly. Before you and your baby go home we will show you how to do this, and provide you with written information.
If you plan to formula feed you will need to bring ready to feed first milk formula into hospital with you. Starter packs with disposable bottles and teats are available to buy in many supermarkets and chemists. You should expect to use about 8 teats and bottles a day. We do not have the facilities for the safe preparation of powdered formula on the maternity wards. We do not provide formula milk for babies on maternity wards unless there is a medical indication.
Preparing to breastfeed class
Leeds Maternity Breastfeeding Clinic
This clinic is run by the Infant Feeding Team who are Specialist Midwives and Support Workers at Leeds Teaching Hospitals. It offers personalised support to women and babies who encounter difficulties in the postnatal period (up to 28 days post birth).
Email leedsth-tr.breastfeedingclinic@nhs.net for further information or to self-refer.
Our videos
More information and support
Please take a look at the 0-19 Public Health Integrated Nursing Service's website for more information about infant feeding support in Leeds.
LCH 0 - 19 Health and Wellbeing Breastfeeding Support
Leeds Bosom Buddies provide mum-to-mum breastfeeding information and support in groups run by trained breastfeeding peer supporters. See Leeds Bosom Buddies on Facebook for the latest information and groups in your area.
Building a Happy Baby
We now know that building a loving relationship with your new baby will give them the best possible start in life, and will help them to grow up happy and confident. The following film offers advice and information on getting to know your baby and setting up the foundations for that strong relationship:
For further reading please checkout the video Unicef UK Baby Friendly Initiative | Breastfeeding and Relationship Building.
More useful leaflets for you to access
Off to the Best Start: Useful information on why breastfeeding matters and how to hold and attach baby effectively for feeding.
Caring for your baby at night: This leaflet, endorsed by the CPHVA, RCM and The Lullaby Trust, is designed to offer helpful, practical advice on coping at night. Also see Infant Sleep Service
You and your Baby: supporting love and care on the neonatal unit, covers a wide range of issues and provides a useful tool to help conversations with parents on the neonatal unit.
New Dad's and Breastfeeding: How Dad's can assist and be involved in Breastfeeding.
Partners and Breastfeeding: How partners can assist and be involved in Breastfeeding.
Really helpful video clips
You may find some of these video clips useful they cover feeding expressing and relationship building with babies.
The importance of relationship building
Meeting baby for the first time
Skin to skin contact A mother having skin to skin contact with her baby immediately after delivery.
First Feed Mums giving their baby a first feed after delivery
Hand expression: This video guides you through how to hand express, and talks about the times when hand expression might be useful for you.
Breastfeeding and relationship building: Views and tips from mothers and health care professionals
Positioning and attachment: A breast feeding counsellor helps a mother with positioning and attachment.
What effective feeding looks like: this clip shows an animation of what positioning and attachment looks like.
Keeping mums and babies close: this clip shows how mothers keep their babies close in the early weeks and months.
Talking about breastfeeding: mothers talk about their experiences of breastfeeding.
Dads: A short video about how dads can help
Breastfeeding problems: Some mothers encounter problems with breastfeeding, this looks at how they are caused and how to avoid them.
