The story of my first child - Simone

Hi mommies, I haven't shared my story before as I feel some mommies have had it much harder, but I still feel that it might encourage others.

I had my first baby girl on 10 July this year. I ended up having an emergency C-section which delayed getting my little girl to latch. Upon trying to latch she couldn't because my breasts felt numb from the epidural. [LLLSA comment: Intravenous fluids given during epidurals and caesarean sections often contribute to making the breasts swollen after birth and may cause latching challenges. This can be overcome by getting help from experienced breastfeeding supporters.] The struggle lasted hours and thank goodness the hospital I went to was pro-breastfeeding as they helped me manually express colostrum and syringe-feed. I felt pretty useless as a mother but continued to try latching through many tears.

By the end of day two and after many nurses trying to help she finally latched. But by week two we hit a speed bump. She suddenly one day refused the breast. After hours of trying to get her to latch, I panicked and gave her a few bottles of expressed milk. This ended up making things worse and she then refused my breast. Finally in desperation and encouragement by my sister, I contacted a LLLLeader. Wow she was amazing and made me feel at ease immediately. We started with pinky-feeding using a feeding tube. What a miracle of an invention!

[LLLSA comment: Here is a video demonstrating finger-feeding https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRFgA_uHW1g ]

Within a few days we got her back on the breast and I have been exclusively breastfeeding ever since.

Today we are 3 months and 2 weeks. My baby is happy and healthy and I'm so glad I didn't give up. The first few weeks are so tough but I'm so happy to be part of a breastfeeding community that supports mommies so well!

Thank you LLLSA for your help, I'm signing up as a member and encouraging moms to get in touch with a group even before they have their baby.

Simone (Oct 2019)

LLLSA comment: Simone has since had a second child and tandem breastfed. She is now an accredited LLLSA Leader and serves as the Head of the Social Media Team.

LLLSA comment: Nipple confusion/preference refers to when a baby prefers the fast flow of a bottle to breastfeeding. As demonstrated by Simone’s story, this can happen even if the baby has just had a few bottles. Dummies/pacifiers can cause the same “confusion” in the baby’s mouth, as bottle teats. Babies learn and forget (as we all do, until something becomes more familiar), and require lots of practice with breastfeeding in the early weeks. Sucking at a bottle teat or dummy is very different to suckling at the breast, and is best delayed for the first one to two months until breastfeeding is well established.

The first few days and weeks with a new baby can be extremely overwhelming and exhausting for parents. Add to that, all the family and friends who visit at all hours of the day, excited to see the new baby. All this can be hugely disruptive to the mommy-baby connection and frequent breastfeeding which the newborn requires. Fathers can be especially helpful in the early weeks to suggest to visiting family members to bring cooked meals and assist with household chores; do things to help take care of the mother, so that she can focus her time on the baby.

Direct skin-to-skin contact between mommy and baby can help get and keep things on track. Babies that are held in direct skin-to-skin contact lose less weight immediately after birth, they also gain weight faster, their heart rates and breathing patterns are better regulated, they have minimal jaundice and they definitely breastfeed more often and have better attachment/latching at the breast.

If you or anyone you know are experiencing any breastfeeding difficulties, please get in touch with a LLLLeader. All our contact details are listed at www.lllsa.org