Breastfeeding

The most natural thing in the world….right? Wrong.

In a world where we have so much information at the tap of a screen, the pressure around “perfect parenting” has never been greater. So it came at no great surprise that during my pregnancy I had all of these ideas of the ‘things’ I wanted to do to be a good mum, and to me one of those things was breastfeeding.

I’m not quite sure when or where this became so important, as I was breastfed for a grand total of 3 weeks before becoming a formula-fed baby…and I think I turned out just fine?! Being someone who is influenced by others, I had convinced myself that I wanted to try to breastfeed if I could… fast forward and my breastfeeding journey lasted a whopping 15 months! One of my greatest achievements, but like any great achievement, it didn’t come without it’s challenges and hardship.

“Breastfeeding is 90% determination and 10% milk production.” — Unknown

I remember being sat in my antenatal class – a rotund, 8-month, nervous yet excited woman – like a sponge absorbing a mountain of information about all the things to expect in labour and new parenthood. I recall observing a breastfeeding “expert” with her knitted boob and plastic doll, whilst she enacted positions and explained the process of latching – and it seemed all very simple. Or so I thought.

Whether it’s that antenatal teachers or midwives don’t want to share more realistic elements of breastfeeding because they are concerned about ‘scaring’ mums-to-be, but the reality of breastfeeding is much more than just getting them to latch. During those first few weeks I felt completely unprepared and found myself googling things at all hours, even down to some of the changes I was noticing with my own body. In actual fact it was this lack of information, not knowing what to expect or what hardships could arise, that created more anxiety than if I had just been given that information to process beforehand.

And thus, the heart of my blog was born. If I could share one nugget of information that helped to prepare another mum (or mum-to-be), or to make her feel a little less alone… I feel that I have helped in some way! She isn’t another me – feeling my way through complete darkness, not knowing where to go and if I was even going in the right direction.

So if you’re here because you’re on your own breastfeeding journey (or want to know a bit about the things I experienced), then hopefully there is some wisdom for you to take away. But also seek out local support networks, such as breastfeeding support groups and classes – my local health board had a facebook page, that in the weary hours became a lifetime to bounce off concerns and to access resources from legitimate sources.

If you’re a new breastfeeding mum or preparing to be breastfeeding, check out all of the things that got me through, breastfeeding clothing options and our journey to six months! And like parenthood in general, even when you think you have things sussed, new challenges arise, including dealing with breastfeeding for our first holiday abroad.

Looking back, there does seem to be a greater promotion of breastfeeding in the media (including social media) over bottlefeeding, which is just not the case. Yes breastfeeding may be a more natural method, but please remember that whether your baby is breastfed or bottlefed; FED is BEST!