I always knew I wanted to breastfeed my baby. But I also knew that not everyone (far from everyone) finds breastfeeding easy. Having a lactation consultant in my “village” helped me feel more serene about it, and here is what I learnt from her.
There isn’t ONE breastfeeding position
A few days after giving birth, my milk hadn’t fully come yet, as is to be expected. But it felt like my baby was aggressively trying to get some milk. He was almost biting me and the pain was starting to become unbearable. ChatGPT didn’t help much, so I called my lactation consultant (aka my sister-in-law).
What really did the trick was this: change the position of your baby. I had indeed learnt that there were a few positions for your baby to latch during my antenatal classes. But when you’re in the thick of it, you only think about what you’ve seen so many women do before you, with a baby lying in your arms.
So that day, I positioned my baby on my lap, his legs dangling on each side of one of my legs, facing me. He sat there, I put him on the boob, and thank the Lord, the way he was trying to suck wasn’t painful any more. We never looked back.
I’m not saying this is the only position that works, but there is more than one position (baby lying horizontally in your arms). I got raised eyebrows and questions from midwives and doctors seeing us like that. That was until I hesitantly said it worked perfectly, and it was under a lactation consultant’s advice. Then they’d say “oh that’s wonderful, if that is what works for you, keep going of course”. Confidence is not easy as a first-time mum, but you’ve got to stand your ground.
Listen to the antenatal classes, make notes, and come back to them after the birth, and even in the few days before the birth. It will help keep plenty of options in mind, so hopefully it crosses your mind when you need it.
Lactation consultant back in the day : “Cows don’t question whether they can breastfeed or not”
That’s what an LC said to my mum 30 years ago, when she was having her sixth child. Weirdly enough, that worked. She had stopped breastfeeding for my elder brother because it didn’t really work, and was shamed for it, and never tried again. But she was determined to make it work for her last child. Armed with new tips, she indeed made it work.
So I was rather relaxed about it all. Breastfeeding was either going to work, or it wasn’t. The most important thing was this: my baby needed to eat. I knew how beneficial breast milk was, its properties are absolutely mind-blowing (such as, if the baby is ill, it communicates to the boob what it needs, and the milk produces the antibodies within 30 minutes WHAAAT?).
But when you’re responsible for a whole new life, if you’re stressed over whether you’re doing it right, what your mother and mother-in-law have got to say about it. If the midwife is not having a good day and tells you you’re doing it wrong, etc. Your baby can feel it, and be thrown off.
We’re very prompt to utilise tools where we can have anything delivered to our door in a few hours. I myself had a few gadgets in my Amazon basket, ready to be ordered if there was any issue. But my LC told me to give him time. You don’t want to disrupt what could be working by introducing tools too early.
It’s brand new for both of us. Baby is hardwired to suck, we need to give him time to practice. But that is NOT to say that it works every time. There is no judgement to be made, by you or someone else. I read a book written by an LC about breastfeeding before the birth, and the number of things that can go wrong, even when your baby is latched on properly, is wild. Breastfeeding may be a natural thing, but it doesn’t mean it’s effortless for everyone, far from it.
Your boob size = storage capacity
My other sister-in-law had a baby four months after me. I was surprised to hear that her baby could go almost four hours between feeds at four weeks, when mine could barely make it to three hours, 5 months in. And my LC said “well, have you seen the boob size difference between you two?”
Indeed, hers are like three times the size of mine, when not pregnant or breastfeeding. And the LC simply explained that we each have a storing capacity, and that depends on your original boob size. Same production capacity, but we cannot store it in the same way. It makes sense when you think of it, but I never would have thought of it.
It’s yet another way we’re all different, babies will be fed differently, sleep accordingly and get on with their day.
Having a lactation consultant that you can call or reach out to is so helpful, just to reassure yourself sometimes. A lot of hospitals have got one in the clinic so ask about how to contact them. You might not need one, but at least you know you could contact them if needed. I called mine when I wanted to stop breastfeeding too, and again she was of great advice.
What have you learnt from your Lactation consultant? Post it below 🙂
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