Gwynneth Jacobs is a volunteer group Leader for La Leche League South Africa. She is also a full-time working mother of two beautiful boys. She discovered the LLLSA Facebook group with her first child and loved reading everyone’s posts and information about breastfeeding. In time she trained as a breastfeeding peer counsellor and later as a Leader.

I came to know about La Leche League Botswana when the twins were around 8 weeks old. Before then, I did not have much information on breastfeeding, but I had always known in my heart that I wanted to breastfeed my babies. The reality of a twin pregnancy had me worried though, I wondered whether I could really do this and I didn’t have many examples of successfully breastfed twins.

I have two children, and I breastfed my first child for 16 months. She was born at the beginning of Covid in 2020 and during that time we didn't get a lot of support for breastfeeding. During Covid there were many restrictions so we really struggled, especially those of us who were first time parents- even my mother was not allowed to visit me. I was all alone with my first child in lockdown, and that was so hard.

Then came my journey with the twins; they were born at 34 weeks gestation. They were kept in hospital, one was in ICU initially and then in high care for a week. The second one was in high care for a month. They were taken to two different wards!

With my first child, I was unable to breastfeed exclusively and stopped breastfeeding completely after five months. When I became pregnant with my second baby, I knew I wanted a different experience. I set my heart on breastfeeding for at least one full year.

My breastfeeding journey started off being more challenging than I expected. I struggled with my baby not latching properly, which made feeding very painful. She was choking during the let-down (milk release) and I didn't know what to do. I wasn't even sure what was happening. My breasts became sore, nipples cracked, and my milk ducts felt clogged, which made me feel discouraged and I wanted to stop breastfeeding.

I had my first surgery just after I finished high school in 2002. My one breast was smaller than the other one and I underwent surgery to make both the same size. The surgeon reduced the larger breast and put implants in both.

As a grandmother, I was given the privilege of playing an important role in my daughter-in-law's life. Having breastfed my own two sons, who are now fathers themselves, La Leche League was my go-to for encouragement and support 30 years ago. It remains so today, as I care for my breastfed granddaughter while her mommy is at work.

Thank you to the mothers but especially to the Leaders of the Parow LLLSA WhatsApp support group for always being on top of responses. I will always remember your kindness and support through difficult times while being there for all the other mothers, and still finding the time to check in privately with me if something was wrong. May you be rewarded abundantly for everything you do for everyone.

A year ago I rejoined the LLL community, after an absence of 10 years, when my third baby was born (2024). Having a baby again after so long made me feel like a first time mom and I needed all the breastfeeding advice I could get – especially since this time my experience would be very different from before.

Our son was born at 37 weeks and spent his first two weeks in NICU. From a few days after birth he was visibly jaundiced (yellowish), but initially this was monitored without treatment.

I wanted to share my story in the hope that it brings encouragement to another mama who might be feeling the way I did just a few months ago.

Like many mothers, I was incredibly excited to begin my breastfeeding journey after my baby was born. Breastfeeding felt like such a natural and beautiful experience—I never imagined that anything could go wrong.

My first full-blown mastitis didn’t happen as a brand-new mother. It came with my third child – and not even in the early months. I woke up one morning with my breast swollen, an aching body, fever, and excruciating pain while breastfeeding.

I've been in the Parow WhatsApp group since 2023 and am so glad that I never left. When my second baby was born this year, I felt so uncertain of myself that I reached out for help again.

This is the story of my breastfeeding journey—a journey that started in confusion and pain, but thankfully led me to healing and joy. I share it with the hope that it might spare another mom the trauma I went through the first time around, and offer encouragement that things can be different.

My 4-month-old exclusively breastfed baby had been refusing the breast all of a sudden. I knew he was hungry, but he just pulled away.

Gwynneth is a Leader in Cape Town. She is passionate about supporting working moms and has served in various admin roles within LLLSA.

At the hospital they gave him formula in a bottle, which raised his sugar, but unfortunately he stopped latching onto me after that.

The riveting saga of Wilken, the pint-sized revolutionary who staged a one-baby protest against the bottle industry, awaited me.