NCT Breastfeeding Line making breastfeeding support more accessible

I've been involved with the NCT Breastfeeding Line since it started up last year.  I thought it was worth passing on how satisfying it is, just in case anyone out there might be considering the idea of training as a breastfeeding counsellor. 

Mothers at our local hospitals have the Breastfeeding Line number on their maternity notes, making NCT contact accessible to all.  It's only a gut feeling, but it seems to me that over the past year I have had calls from women who might not have called me when I was listed as 'Di' with my home phone number.  (Though there are some times when the caller has the impression that I'm sitting calmly in a call centre or clinic rather than waving at my children to be quiet and turn off the cooker!)

There seem to have been more calls from women whose family (and sometimes friends too) are not familiar with breastfeeding, and who are relieved to speak to someone who regards breastfeeding as normal.  This probably also reflects the fact that women who might not have breastfed a few years ago are getting even more encouragement and support to start breastfeeding from health professionals.  It is quite common for callers to say that theirmidwife or health visitor suggested they phone the NCT  -  when I started as a counsellor eleven years ago that was very unusual.

If you phone the 'Bfline' (0870 444 8708), the phone system re-routes your call to the nearest available counsellor - it rings the first one allocated to that county on the list, if it isn't answered it moves on to the next, and if it has tried three unsuccessfully it goes to the Duty Counsellor.  I have three counties allocated, so sometimes callers are not very local at all, but we have up-to-date lists of all counsellors and pump agents so we can give follow-up information where needed.  I sometimes do a rota turn as Duty Counsellor when I can get calls from anywhere in the country.

For me, the Breastfeeding Line is the best part of my membership of the NCT - sharing the information and parent-to-parent support that I had from the NCT myself, and making it accessible to as many parents as possible. A high proportion of the calls I receive come from parents who found the number on their hospital notes, or in magazines or leaflets, and who previously had no contact with the NCT at all.  They often want to know how to get in touch with other women for mutual support.  The fact that the NCT supports mothers however they feed their babies can be very reassuring  -  one of the commonest questions is about lack of confidence about continuing breastfeeding after a bottle has been introduced.

On the other hand, one call was from a mother of young twins who was reassured that I hadn't asked her whether she was supplementing them (she was exclusively breastfeeding).  Apparently everyone else had asked her, which had made her feel that perhaps she ought to be giving them formula.

The difference in a mother's tone of voice at the start and end of a call and comments like, "it's been very useful and reassuring to talk" and "it's a lot nicer to speak to someone who knows" (ie a mother who's 'been there') make it well worthwhile.

If you would like to find out more about training as a breastfeeding counsellor, you are very welcome to contact a local counsellor for an informal chat, or to contact the NCT UK office on 0870 770 3236 for details of local tutors with vacancies, again to chat informally.

Di Napier, NCT Breastfeeding Counsellor since 1991

Warwickshire Central branch