Like all new mothers and fathers, I had my own personal experience when it came to breastfeeding. Sadly, despite perseverance, I struggled with mastitis several times. As many of you may agree, I couldn’t believe how hard it was to master. When we are exhausted from the birth, it's not always easy for our bodies to start producing the amounts of milk we might hope to. With my first child I couldn’t carry on having to take antibiotics for mastitis, so after 3 months, I stopped. I got the help of an amazing lactation consultant who made a combination feeding plan for me, which helped me stop safely and enabled me to express as much as I could until my baby was on formula only.
It was tough being the only one in my NCT group who had stopped, but I realised for me so much changed. I could focus on some other areas, that are also important for our maternity experience with a new baby, such as baby groups, sensory, swimming, taking a walk and playing together. I really loved doing all these new and fun things with my daughter, and my maternity leave was so enjoyable. For me, it was a weight lifted and I was just pleased I had given it my best shot!
We know the benefits of breastfeeding, but we also need to celebrate mothers who tried their best and if it didn’t work for them and then rid this guilt about it. It is not everything, and it does not mean your baby will not be healthy and ok at all. When it comes naturally for someone, it absolutely is amazing. If it doesn’t, your bond will not be weaker, it can be as strong as you make it and I know that as it never affected our bond. If anything, it made it stronger because I was in a good place mentally.
We need to also remember that these days, our ‘village’ is limited or non-existent in some cases! I am very sure this impacts how long and how much we persist with breastfeeding… how do we spend hours trying to get it right, when there is no extra support there for us? We can’t expect the world of ourselves in these circumstances.
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