19-Apr-2008, 22:13
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Senior Member
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Status:
Doing access to midwifery course
Course Finishes:
rollover
Posts:
161
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Re: Breast is Best or is it????
Wow to everyone who shared their experiences!
I thought I'd had a hard time until I read these! I wish I could have read these posts when I had my daughter. I also had problems getting my daughter to latch on, mainly because she was a very very sleepy baby for the first couple of weeks. When I was still in hospital I got a lot of support and help, albeit with a lot boob grabbing and 'throwing' my daughter on while she was yawning - "quick, throw her on while her mouths open!" a quote from one of the breast feeding counsellors which I thought was rather funny at the time  But baby was having none of it. I was advised by some of the midwives to stay on the ward until i had at least one successful feed and others were saying I should maybe just try formula feeding so I could get home. I opted to go home after 4 days and express milk and also use formula top-ups if needed and did this for 9 days before she latched on. I didn't really find pressure from other people to breastfeed, the only pressure was from myself, everyone kept saying it's not the end of the world, just give her a bottle, but to me with the way I was feeling, it was the end of the world, I had completely made up my mind I was going to breastfeed and there were no other options.
In those 9 days tho I became really depressed and upset every time I tried to feed her and felt like a total failure and it really affected the whole bonding process with my baby. I really feel for mums who have trouble breastfeeding, a lot aren't aware of the problems that can occur, and breastfeeding is sometimes portrayed as the most natural thing in the world in a lot of pregnancy reading material. The way I feel now is that breastfeeding is great if you can manage it, but it's not for everyone, and everyones choices should be respected and I'd encourage other mums to try not be hard on themselves. I totally agree with whats said above, that mums need support whatever method of feeding they choose. As long as mum & baby are both happy and healthy, and baby has a wee full tummy, then all is well!
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