Mum's anger at hospital's baby ban (From South Wales Argus)

Mum's anger at hospital's baby ban

3:40pm Wednesday 5th November 2008 in News By Natalie Crockett

Hannah Hillier with son Breyen

A MOTHER discharged herself from hospital after staff refused to let her five-month-old baby, who is breast-fed, stay on the ward with her.

Hannah Hillier, 27, from Wainfelin, Pontypool, checked herself out of the Royal Gwent Hospital, Newport, after staff told her son, Breyen was too old to stay with her.

Mrs Hillier said staff told her hospital policy only allowed babies under three months to stay with their mothers.

Mrs Hillier was sent to the hospital for an emergency appointment after experiencing bleeding following a Loop Biopsy treatment to remove abnormal cells on the cervix.

She was told she would need to stay in overnight for observation and have an ultra-sound scan the next morning.

But when hospital staff said Breyen could not stay, Mrs Hillier felt she had no choice but to discharge herself so she could continue to care for him.

She will now have to wait for another appointment at the hospital which has delayed the treatment she needs.

She said: “I had no intention of ignoring the advice of the health professionals before me. However, I was made to feel that this was my only option if I wanted to continue to exclusively breast feed my baby.”

Mrs Hillier, who also has another son Declan, three, said she was not happy for her husband Thomas, 26, to bottle-feed Breyen while she was in hospital because he had never been fed this way before and it was likely to cause him distress.

She said the hospital’s policy contradicted the message promoted by the World Health Organisation, as supported by the government, which says exclusive breast feeding is recommended for the first six months of a baby’s life.

She said: “I am utterly disgusted at the treatment I received and felt discriminated against and denied of the treatment I required because of my choice to do the best for my baby.”

She said she was shocked to learn that the Royal Gwent Hospital has full accreditation as a baby-friendly hospital and according to UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative has made a significant commitment to ensuring mothers and babies receive adequate standards of care to help them breast feed successfully.

She said: “On the evening in question they were not willing to respect my wishes.”

Mrs Hillier has now written to the hospital and Torfaen MP Paul Murphy with the hope of taking the matter further.