Last night the petition went over 1,000 signatories, which gives us a chance to look back at the some of the amazing comments people have left about their shock and disbelief about this essential Blackpool service closing:
“You cannot close a vital support group like this. My daughter is due to give birth next month and as she’s only 18 she was hoping to have their help and support as she has chosen to breastfeed. Keep the support in place for all future mums and their children.”
“I didn’t breastfeed and didn’t intend to but for people who did this is such an awful thing to lose! I know from my friends experiences they would have been lost without the support of star buddies!”
“I really don’t understand where the support will come from if this service disappears? Midwives and Health Visitors are stretched enough as it is and would need extra training to fulfill this requirement. My twins and I had a 2 week stay in Blackpool Paediatrics after 14 weeks in NICU at Preston. Star Buddies were great at coming to see me and my girls to check our breastfeeding, as I was panicking after leaving NICU and having 24/7 support there.”
“I had my son last week and wanted to breastfeed. I struggled a lot in the hospital but had a visit from a star buddy who gave lots of great advice. After I was finally discharged, I really struggled and was in tears! A star buddy came to my house within an hour and made me feel so much better and more confident. This service needs to carry on as I would have given up by now if it wasn’t for them”
” I am so sad to hear about this. This is such a vital service. I have managed to breastfeed 2 of my babies with the help and support from the star buddies. They gave me so much advice, support and a listening ear. They were there when I hurt the most and I had no idea what I was doing. Thanks to them, I had the confidence to go out in public, knowing I was doing the best for my baby.
Please don’t end this service”
“Vital service especially for mums like me who delivered prematurely. Breast feeding is a whole different ball game when you have to express and try and keep your supply there for weeks on end till baby is ready to feed. Star buddies were ace for me”
“Star buddies came to teach me how to collect and store colostrum in advance of babies being born. Without their support and advice I wouldn’t of been able to store my milk in the fridges in the nicu in advance of my twins prem birth.”
“This is such an amazing service…and supported me with breastfeeding my 2 children. Without their support I would have felt alone and given up! Not only did they support breast feeding, the ladies supported me through the early days of being a mum! I have recommended this service to so many new mum’s! I hope the council change their decision. Such an amazing and unique support service!”
There are many many more comments on the Facebook thread too – see this link