Baby Reflux Training by The Baby Reflux Lady (Review)

Baby reflux is something that we have never had theoretical teaching on and it's also something I've never been exposed to professionally. When I saw a free training advertised through The Baby Reflux Lady, I thought it was great and instantly signed up. My niece had really severe silent reflux when she was a newborn and as many parents feel, it was ignored for a prolonged period of time. If it hadn't been for that experience, I probably wouldn't have had much experience of it myself, so to end my busy day, I was excited to do the training.

Due to the number of people signed up, she recommended logging in early due to the capacity of those allowed in the chat being a maximum of 100 people. As I waited for it to begin, Aine, was clearly very excited and happy to be training. It looked like it was going to be a fun night.

Whilst I knew a little about reflux, it was interesting to hear exactly what it is and the fact that it is a growing problem with 1 in 2 babies having reflux in some way. It was also very eye opening to hear about the greater impact it has outside of the babies immediate pain. With so many parents relationships and mental health also impacted, it is important to address as soon as possible to prevent bonding damages. The evidence is limited, and something Aine discussed wanting to support further, but clear relationships exist between reflux and anxiety, depression and reduced confidence in parenting.
The main message was to understand the cause of the reflux instead of treating reflux as it's a symptom of a disease. Whilst I took what she said with caution, due to her disrespect of healthcare professionals, she was clearly knowledgeable on the topic and had lots of hands on experience. With medication given all too frequently - across the healthcare industry - the effects of the medication was really startling. The increased risk of allergies, fractures (as reduced Calcium absorption), ADHD and damaged gut microbiome can have long term effects. Similarly, the myths relating to diagnosis of reflux cannot be true if there is weight gain was also voiced.
My main learning point was the REFLUX solution and something I do want to remember.
  • Reflux: diagnose
  • Explain: to parents
  • Food and formula: perhaps a cause
  • Life: bigger picture and quality of life
  • Understand medications: informed consent
  • Xtras: other causes 
Sadly, I was really disappointed and disheartened when I left the training session. The majority of what I wanted to hear was less of advice and treatment, and more of the negative impact of current care. I don't think that's a bad thing, and it defintely shouldn't be overlooked, but the most important aspect is solving the problem and that was never covered. Even the solution above didn't have details, just things to consider.

The last half an hour ended up being a promotion of her additional training, which truly does sound great, and exactly what I want and need to learn and hear. It aimed teach how to overcome reflux through a 6 week modular programme. It was a certifcated course which was aimed at anyone, even non-professionals and allowed you to also make it a business of your own.

Shockingly, this was £5,999 but advertised as "discounted" to £1,999 for a special offer. For just 3 hours of work a week, plus a 1 hour tutorial, this is absolutely extortionate and I was very disheartened because I felt it went against everything Aine had been talking about throughout the session. She wanted to promote awareness and increase information accessibility and yet, wanted to charge those who wanted to help incredible prices.
Overall, I really do think that as midwives we need to have training on reflux because often we can educate and support families during the early transition to parenthood, often their only link to healthcare professionals. However, this training was not very informative, very negative on professionals and also was shamefully a plug for a very expensive additional course. Having said that, coming out of it, I now at least have somewhere I can redirect people to for support, at the very least.

Comments

  1. I could not agree more. I even purchase the monthly access to her clinic hoping to find the information on how to solve my baby’s reflux and there is more of the same thing. A lot of negative comments about caregivers work, explanations of what reflux is that can be found for free on google and promotional material for your to buy another course when she says she teaches how to solve reflux. I honestly don’t want to buy that other course now because I do not believe her anymore. She said that was the purpose of her clinic which I bought and it was just a waste of money. Her miss-advertising and promises that she does not deliver as as bad as what she says doctors do just treating symptoms. She is playing with desperate parents

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