Mabedi’s story- Breastfeeding Twins, overcoming the constant worry about my milk production

August 2026

My name is Mabedi and I am a first-time mom to 22-month-old twins. They are energetic and curious little people who are keeping me and the whole family on our toes! Motherhood with twins has been a wonderful and busy experience; I am especially grateful for information from La Leche League and a very supportive family around us. This has made my experience so much gentler.

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. 

During my pregnancy my family frequently asked if my breastmilk would really be enough - if I would be able to produce enough breastmilk to breastfeed the twins - and honestly that was a big worry of mine from early on in my pregnancy. That is partly the reason why, whilst shopping for items the babies might need in hospital, we decided to add formula because I wasn’t confident that I’d be able to exclusively breastfeed.

The babies were born by emergency C-section. We had always known that I would give birth by C-section because my twins were breech, and my obstetrician said that he does not deliver breech babies through the birth canal for first-time moms. Labour started earlier than planned for me at 35 weeks and we needed the emergency C-section. Twin A, named Kano, weighed 1.75 kg, and twin B, named Entle, was 1.8 kg. Although they were small their lungs were fully developed so they didn’t have to spend time in the NICU. They were, however, kept in the hospital nursery for monitoring. 

I had a very helpful pediatrician who educated me about the early days of breastfeeding, including colostrum; she examined my breasts and  encouraged me by telling me that my milk would soon increase. I needed to allow my body a little time - I had, after all, just had an operation. I had also read on multiple online platforms that milk can take longer to increase after a C-section birth, so I had prepared myself for a three or four day wait.  

A few hours after their birth the nurses brought the twins to the room where I was resting and we started latching them. It was a painful process - I was not prepared for that. I felt despondent because it seemed I had nothing for them at all, and my babies were frustrated as they kept latching, but I thought there was no milk yet, so they cried which upset me, but the pediatrician just kept reassuring me that the milk would come and that I should hold them directly against my skin.  Later that day when the nurses checked my breasts, there was a liquid that came out (I believe that was colostrum) so the twins were able to feed at last. 

I was discharged home, but I had to leave the babies in the hospital until they reached 1.8kg each. I started expressing at home, and would spend all day in the hospital nursery feeding them. 

Our paediatrician was an important part of my breastfeeding journey. From the very beginning, she never questioned whether I could breastfeed twins. Instead, she constantly reassured me that my body was capable of producing enough milk for both babies. Whenever I doubted myself, she encouraged me and reminded me to trust the process, trust my body, and keep putting the babies to the breast. Her confidence gave me confidence in myself.

Because Kano and Entle were born prematurely and underweight, our paediatrician and the nurses strongly encouraged us to practise kangaroo care (skin-to-skin contact). They explained that keeping the babies directly on my chest would not only help regulate their temperatures and strengthen our bond, but would also stimulate my milk production and support their weight gain.

I committed to doing skin-to-skin every day while they were still in the nursery. I started with about 30 minutes with each baby, then gradually increased the time. I noticed almost immediately that my milk supply increased significantly. Before introducing regular skin-to-skin contact, I was expressing around 30 ml of milk. After just one day, I was expressing close to 90 ml, and by the second day my milk would begin flowing even while the babies were resting on my chest.

The nurses also noticed how well the twins were responding. When they were weighed on the third day, they had gained more weight than they had on the previous days, and our paediatrician was pleased with their progress. She told us that the combination of breastfeeding, expressed breast milk, and frequent skin-to-skin contact was making a real difference. Seeing them gain weight gave me the reassurance I desperately needed and strengthened my determination to continue breastfeeding.

We were discharged home on day four and that’s where the real work began. 

I exclusively breastfed my babies and for the first six weeks I had a lot of milk. I was also building a ‘milk stash’, so I expressed and froze a lot of milk.  I also had a silicone milk collector  that collected all my let down milk whilst feeding a baby on the other breast. I was determined and deliberate with my skin-to-skin time and this helped maintain my milk supply; I was also careful to keep hydrated by drinking enough water. I reached a stumbling block at six weeks, however, when we had a power outage that lasted the whole day and all the milk that I had frozen defrosted! I could use some of it, but had to throw away a large volume of my milk. Kano was also cluster feeding at the time, so I was going through a lot. I was in a mental rut and so went back to the pediatrician to tell her I was struggling to keep up, and was worried I might not be able to breastfeed any longer. Luckily the nurse that was helping me then encouraged me to focus on drinking more water, and assured me that if I did that my milk would increase; she said I didn’t need to use formula and the pediatrician reaffirmed her words as well as telling me to do more skin-to-skin with the babies.

I remember I posted my ‎frustrations on my WhatsApp status that day and a friend of mine reached out to ask if they could introduce me to a mother-to-mother breastfeeding group. I was really hesitant at the time, because of what I was going through mentally,  but after some days I decided to join.

That was my first introduction to La Leche League. I had a one-on-one consultation with one of the Leaders who checked the babies’ positioning and latch, helped me improve their latch and suggested ways to manage their feeding more efficiently.  She  also gave me a lot of reassurance and honestly her encouragement kept me breastfeeding. 

I went through periods of low milk production notably when I went back to work, but the LLL Leaders were really encouraging and shared information and so many tips on how to maintain my production during this time. I also found their advice on how to see if the babies were really getting enough and how to see if your baby is satisfied (in terms of weight gain) very helpful. I think because my babies were born prematurely and were underweight for the first few months of their lives, I found the reassurance and support very important for confidence-building. 

The LLL Leaders taught me to trust my body, especially when it became stressful seeing that they were still below the normal weight line, and when I questioned whether my breast milk was enough. I was able to breastfeed the twins until they were 13 months old; I weaned them then because of work demands and issues relating to my back. 

I have kept my relationship with the LLL Leaders even post-weaning and they have given me information and  tips in terms of feeding toddlers; honestly this is the one community that really has made motherhood easier for me, and made me see that it is possible to breastfeed twins. I’ve also become very deliberate with my interactions with other new moms in letting them know that it is possible to breastfeed their babies.  It’s a journey, but with a good support system, you are able to do it!