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Real women share their breastfeeding adventures. MOTHER & BABY 43 is really like What breastfeeding “I wasn’t one of those first-time mums who was particularly excited about breastfeeding. I wasn’t against it by any means but felt it was more just something we should do. “I was committed to trying and going as long as it worked. I hated the first two weeks and felt like stopping most days, most feeds, but I really wanted to get past the first six weeks and then make a call. Literally around day 12 or 13 the pain subsided, and we found our groove and haven’t looked back. “I didn’t particularly enjoy the start of my breastfeeding journey. I felt underprepared for how painful it would be in the beginning. I also had a large supply, which took a couple of days to navigate the best way to help my newborn feed. But in all, I’ve been so fortunate not to have any other issues, which lots of mums experience, like low supply or mastitis or reflux issues, which is probably why I’ve continued to feed.” – Aimee “I had a very difficult experience. I really wanted to breastfeed and really worked hard at it, but it took a massive toll on my mental health. Although I did love the bonding time with my daughter. “I had a lot of trouble getting \[bub\] to latch. And when we finally got her latching, she would take one and a half hours to feed, which was very hard for me when I was having to feed every three hours due to her being underweight. I also have Raynaud syndrome, so I got incredible pain in my nipples after feeding. Then I had thrush, which added to the pain. I was an oversupplier and had lots of milk so would pump for comfort after feeding. My daughter never had an effective latch to feed. “Be sensitive to each mother. We’re struggling \[to learn\] about our new baby and ourselves, and sometimes it’s OK not to breast feed, even though ‘breast is best’. I hope if I have another child, I’ll have a better experience with breastfeeding, but at least I’ll always remember that a baby ‘fed is best’.” – Cara “When my first baby was born, he had to spend his first eight days in the special care nursery. During that time, he was tube fed and then mix fed with formula. As a result, we really struggled to establish breastfeeding. Being an overwhelmed new mum, stressed about her baby’s health, I found it really difficult to watch him struggle and cry during breastfeeding – and then to see my husband have a lovely calm feeding session with the bottle while I expressed milk. After eight weeks, we moved to pure formula feeding. It did involve more planning. “I felt as though I wasn’t ‘doing motherhood’ properly and that, having wanted to be a mum for so long, I still hadn’t quite reached some unspoken exclusive mothers’ club. The best words anyone spoke to me during that time were that a healthy happy baby is a fed baby, regardless of what method is used.” – Stephanie RETAIL PHARMACY ASSISTANTS • MAY 2020 TO PAGE 44