I always wanted to try breastfeeding and be successful at it. It’s one of the main things I was really looking forward to breastfeeding and the wonderful connection that I could see my mum had with my youngest brother. However, I had this deep-rooted fear not out of pressure but purely out of want, that I wasn’t going to be able to do it.
Breastfeeding right now feels a little outdated in comparison to formula feeding. In fact, the statistics perhaps indicate this to be true with only 68% of women in the UK choosing to breastfeed up to six to eight weeks. Only 48% of them go on to breastfeed beyond the eight weeks. That’s a shockingly low amount and perhaps is due to the lack of support that a lot of women feel they don’t get when it comes to those initial few days of getting the little one to latch on.
Of course, for some, breastfeeding is extremely challenging or near to impossible. A fed baby is a happy baby, so whatever you choose to do for you and your baby is paramount.
I thought I’d share with you (my little corner of the internet), everything you’d want to know about breastfeeding and some tips that I found helpful as I navigated and continue to navigate breastfeeding.
Harvesting Colostrum
It’s only recently become popular to harvest colostrum before your baby arrives. You may be staring blankly back at the screen right now if this is the first time you’ve heard of it. Colostrum, according to the NHS, is a fluid your breasts will produce in the first few days after birth. However, it’s something that your body will be producing before you give birth and can be collected around three weeks before your due date.
It’s a thicker consistency to milk and only comes out in small droplets for many. What you collect is often down to your technique and how much you’re producing. Anywhere between 0.1-1ml per session is normal. When I started, I felt like I was trying to milk a cow – me being the cow. It was very alien and I got disheartened every time I tried and produced less than 0.1ml.
Colostrum is a concentrated food so a baby only needs around a teaspoonful for each feed. I gave mine in the first 48 hours of Sonny being born, which I felt was like giving him a little boost of nutrients in those first few days.
A few tips when harvesting colostrum is to relax. Take a bath before you start or a shower and focus all the warmth on the breasts. It’s worth having a hot water bottle or warm flannel to keep the boobs warm. Imagine you’re melting down the colostrum so that it flows out the nipple! That was the image I always thought about when doing it.
The technique is very much like milking a cow – even though I’ve never milked one in my life. It takes time but I also found it got easier with more practice and the closer I got to my due date.
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I think I probably saved about 6-8 syringes worth of colostrum, all of varying volumes between 0.1ml and 1.0ml.
The initial days of breastfeeding
Whether you have a vaginal birth or a c-section, they tend to encourage you to feed from your boob – if you choose to do so – within the first hour of you giving birth. Now that they’re no longer connected to you, they’ll be hungry and I remember straight after the c-section thinking I wasn’t going to be able to breastfeed as I was shaking from all the medication they gave me before the surgery.
However, I had a really good helping hand from one of the midwives who would help me feed from one boob and collect more colostrum from the other. I struggled with the latch to begin with and then another midwife introduced a technique where I essentially pulled my nipple wide to latch him on easily. This would turn out to be a double-edged sword and one technique I wish I hadn’t done as it caused a lot of discomfort.
The initial days of breastfeeding – excuse my language – are fucking hard. My dream of blissful breastfeeding was sliced, diced, and set on fire. Replaced with sore nipples, postpartum pain, and constant crying fits from both me and the baby.
Like a lot of motherhood I’ve experienced so far, it’s another part of it that just doesn’t get given enough airtime. It’s hard to navigate something that you know very little about. Your nipples are also not used to having something sucking that frequently on and so obviously they’re going to get sore. Mine were really sore but thankfully didn’t blister. Apparently, you can still breastfeed, even if they’re bleeding!
I tried nipple shields – they were poop for me. The best thing for me was nipple cream and using more than a pea-sized amount as recommended. I just slathered it on by the end of the first week in a desperate attempt to help them recover. My right nipple took a lot longer to recover.
There were periods in which I wanted to give up, especially in that first week. If I didn’t have my mum, my mother-in-law, and home birthing midwife for support, I probably would have packed it in. I can see why so many people stop breastfeeding because it’s not easy by any means and the reward only comes a lot later on when your nipples become hardened and are no longer painful.
Top tips for breastfeeding from a first-time mum
I wish I had a better understanding of breastfeeding before I began and had some tips to help me get started. Here are some of the top tips I’d suggest to anyone who might be breastfeeding for the first time – from the viewpoint of a first-time mum.
- Get prepared with all the essentials, e.g. nipple shields, cream, breastfeeding bras, etc.
- Do your research – look at what other mums would recommend and look at various sites for both professional and independent advice.
- Imagine your boob is a burger when it comes to getting the latch.
- Explore different positions for breastfeeding – being big-breasted, the rugby hold proved the best option for me.
- Continue shifting from one boob to the other for each feed to give each nipple time to recover.
- Get a breastfeeding pillow for support.
- Speak to friends and family or even work colleagues who have experience breastfeeding, to get their advice. Get hands-on where you can and feel comfortable doing it.
- Seek support from professional breastfeeding groups and services in your local area.
Hopefully, this blog post will offer you some clarity and knowledge about breastfeeding when it comes to starting your journey! It’s a challenging but rewarding connection that you get with your little one.
*Disclaimer – This blog post contains affiliate links.
