Hi I’m Sarah,

One of the many who work within BFT. I have two monsters who drive me crazy, but am more than lucky to have.

 

First published on www.facebook.com/breastfeeding together on 17/04/19

Making a decision to breastfeed your baby may be a very easy one, or not, and it’s a very personal choice. At BfT we’re all about giving families the information they need to be able to make an informed feeding choice.

I’m Emma mum of 2. I started volunteering almost 2 years ago. I volunteer at Beech Hill group, live chat and provide support at RAEI’s maternity ward.

First published on www.facebook.com/breastfeedingtogether on 14/04/19 as part of the sharing sunday series.

Prior to trying breastfeeding, I never really liked the idea of it to be honest. I never thought it would feel natural. From the beginning, myself and my wife always said I would give breastfeeding a try, but if I didn’t want to or if I couldn’t then we were more than happy to formula feed after those first few feeds of colostrum.
However after his arrival, it becane more important and I became more stubborn, as the times he did latch well, I absolutely loved it and felt so proud that I was directly feeding our son the goodness that comes with breast milk.

I would say our journey started antenatally. I had gestational diabetes and it was suggested by one of the midwives at clinic to collect colostrum, due the benefits of this to help to control the baby’s blood sugars. From week 37 I tried to hand express colostrum. I wasn’t able to express any so my wife got in touch with BFT on Connect and Share for advice. Vikki offered to come out and see us. I declined as I was too embarrassed. How stupid does that seem now, lol?!

Straight from birth our breastfeeding journey was difficult, our little boy Austin couldn’t latch, we tried every two hours and I think every midwife and student had a go at trying to get him to latch in any which position possible. I still wasn’t able to hand express either, so midwives and students alike would express for me, and syringe feed and top up with formula via a cup. Austin had jaundice so we needed to ensure he was feeding well. As syringe and cup feeds are generally given by the midwives rather than parents, my wife and I weren’t able to actually feed our boy ourselves. One of the (many) midwives to try and get Austin to latch noticed I had flat nipples (I never knew that was a thing), so we tried a nipple shield, he would then intermittently latch. We thought this was the road to our successful breastfeeding journey. On around day 5, I started to express with a pump and we would bottle feed the expressed breast milk (EBM), if he wouldn’t latch. It was an amazing feeling that we were finally feeding our son.

Upon returning home, I tried to continue with getting Austin to latch, he would maybe latch 2 or 3 times a day varying in time from a few mins to 55mins. It was getting increasingly difficult for Austin to latch even with the nipple sheilds. He would scream and cry and get himself so worked up each time, and in turn I would get upset. The BFT have been such a support, be it online chat, on the phone and of course the numerous visits I had from them. Sometimes, just having them come out and reassuring me that I was doing a good job, was the best feeling ever, and just what I needed.

As Austin’s demand went up unfortunately my supply didn’t, despite pumping day and night. Therefore, we continued to feed EBM and also top up with formula. Eventually, Austin was not latching at all so I continued to pump, even when I had damaged nipples, as I wanted him to have my breast milk so desperately.

Austin had bad reflux and struggled to gain weight, again this was discouraging as I felt I was failing our son. He started to gain weight well, despite the reflux. It was then advised from the paediatric team to put him on anti reflux milk, as by then he was on roughly two thirds formula and one third EBM via a bottle. The anti reflux milk made a massive difference but he would still throw up alot of the EBM feeds, so we stopped giving him EBM and we froze in bags. I stopped pumping at around the 4 month mark and have around 60 bags stored for when Austin needs it.

I am so proud to have got to the 4 month mark, and I know I didn’t fail our boy, I certainly tried through blood, sweat and tears!! I found the Connect and Share Facebook group to be a great source of encouragement. Although I found breastfeeding hard, it has been so fulfilling knowing that I have given our boy the best start in life.

Everyone’s journey is different and not always straight forward, be proud of your achievements no matter how small you think they are. You’ve got this!

 

 

First published on www.facebook.com/breastfeedingtogether as part of the Topic Tuesday series.

Feeding choices, The World Health Organisation gives us five different feeding choices, when it comes to feeding our babies, and lists them in the order of preference.

Four of these are quite well known.

We’ve got exclusive breastfeeding and expressed breast milk coming in as first and second and a combination of breastmilk and formula milk, and exclusive formula feeding as number 4 and 5.

But then what’s in the middle, what’s number 3?

Ok, so it’s a bit of an obscure one, and not one that’s well known, or really ever considered in our society where we have easy access to formula milk, clean running water and sterilizing equipment.

It’s donor milk.

Yep, the milk from another mum.

So, it’s not just from the mum in the next bed to you in the hospital, but from a human milk bank. Mothers express and donate their breastmilk to the milk bank. It’s treated like blood donation, mums are screened and the milk is sterilised and pasteurised.

We get it, it sounds a bit strange, why would anyone want to feed their baby someone elses breast milk, especially when formula is so readily available and viewed as the norm. But remember, it’s only really seen as odd because it’s from our boobs! Donated milk gets a strange look and questioned in a way that donated blood never really does, but it can actually be as vital to a baby’s survival as blood can be.

Very premature babies can struggle to tolerate formula milks (in some cases it can cause a serious illness called NEC) And as mums who have birthed premature babies can often struggle to produce breast milk, doner milk can become a lifeline.

Breastfeeding mums can apply to the human milk bank to donate their breastmilk, knowing they are helping these babies.

Other mums may choose to go down a less formal route. ‘Mum to mum’ milk sharing exists, and sites that put mums with extra milk in touch with mums who are in need are only a Google away! This milk isn’t tested or screened and you accept the risk, but for many families the risk of giving untested breast milk that you know another mum is giving to her own baby out weighs the risk of giving formula milk and creating potential allergic sensitisation within the baby’s gut, the risk of over feeding, and not offering baby all the additional antibodies and immunity breast milk gives. Milk sharing can also suit mothers who want to donate just what they’ve got when they’ve got it rather than having to commit to more regulated donation.

Either way, number 3, donor milk can play a big part in many breastfeeding journeys.

Hopefully the more milk donation is talked about the more we can help to normalise it!

#believeinbreastfeeding
#donormilk
#milksharing
#humanmilk

Hi!  

My name is Jess, I have 2 young sons, both of which I breastfed for different amounts of time, after intensive support with my second I decided I wanted to give something back and applied to do the Level 2 Peer Support training, I completed this in March 2018 and have been actively volunteering since. I have volunteered across many different settings but I mainly volunteer on our live chat service or on the maternity ward.

In July 2018 I was lucky enough to be offered a paid role with Breastfeeding Together, I provide information to mums antenatally at various clinical settings across the borough and also visit mums postnatally to provide them with breastfeeding support.

I really enjoy being a peer supporter and being able to support mums with their feeding choices.

First published on www.facebook.com/breastfeedingtogether as part of the Sharing Sunday series.

I’m Ashley and my little girl is called Ivy-Grace I always wanted to breastfeed from the start of my pregnancy. I was really looking forward to all the benefits it has for my little girl.

When she was born we seemed to be doing well until day 3. She was admitted to hospital with jaundice. Whilst we was there her blood results came back saying she was dehydrated which upset me, making me feel I was letting her down. I was advised to top her up with formula to help hydrate her and get her weight back up.

When we got discharged, Breastfeeding together visited me at home to support with my feeding. I continued to breastfeed because this is what I wanted, but continued to give her some formula too. I also expressed to give her some breastmilk in a bottle so she wasn’t always having the formula. I continued expressing for when I’m not with her due to me being at university for two days, but I didn’t want this getting in the way of our breastfeeding.
The home support from breastfeeding together was fab. I use the Facebook group, Breastfeeding Together Connect and Share, to get information and ask for support.
6 months later my journey still continues. I am still breastfeeding with a nipple shield, and I still Express. I’m so pleased and proud I’ve continued to provide breastmilk for my baby for this long.

First published on www.facebook.com/breastfeedingtogether on 24/03/19 as part of the sharing Sunday Series.

I am a new mum to Jack, who was born in January. To say that his birth was traumatic would be an understatement! I won’t go into detail, but I was induced, hyper-stimulated and had a very long labour which ended in forceps and an epidural.
I was in Recovery for over an hour and by this time Jack was struggling to latch on and getting hungry and quite stressed. The hospital breastfeeding lady to come and see us on the ward at Bolton hospital, but nothing that we tried worked. In the end we had to give him a bottle of ready-made formula. I have since found out that as soon as possible after birth your baby should be put skin-to-skin.

A day or two after we came home, Breastfeeding Together visited me, and Vicky then visited me every few days over the next 6 weeks.

With her support we tried everything you can possibly think of!

First of all she helped me to hand express and collect the colostrum in a syringe. We tried different positions, nipple shields, how to hold the breast/nipple, skin-to-skin, even something called “The Flipple” and trying a supplementary nursing system, but unfortunately it wasn’t effective for us! But still Jack wasn’t able to feed. I then bought an electric pump because I wanted to stimulate my supply, and thought if he could at least take the breast milk from a bottle he would be benefiting.

Expressing was not an enjoyable experience for me, I used the pump every 3-4 hours through the day and once through the night. I was only expressing a maximum of 15ml every time which wasn’t nearly enough to feed my son and therefore had to be supplemented with formula.

Vicky talked to me about the fact that because I hated it so much this will have had a negative affect on my oxytocin levels, and therefore my supply. So with her help I tried to change my mindset to a more positive one, and relax more whilst doing it, but it still didn’t increase my output. I also gave power pumping a go, breast massage, skin-to-skin, as well as taking Fenugreek tablets and brewers yeast but nothing seemed to make any difference!

I was still putting Jack to the breast every feed, before giving him a bottle. The problem was he was getting extremely frustrated that it wasn’t working! He would attempt for a couple of minutes and then absolutely scream. He had all the right instincts, but he just couldn’t create the correct seal. He would try, taking a couple of sucks, but then get annoyed and wrench his head back. This meant starting all over again. We also found that Jack would try harder if I was wearing nipple shields, but having had the bottle for a couple of weeks he found it really hard work, as breastfeeding was more effort for him.

Vicky mentioned going to a breastfeeding drop in group where we saw a lactation consultant who found that he had a very thick posterior tie, which was probably affecting his ability to latch! We were referred for this to be cut straight away but had to wait over 3 weeks for the appointment. After this there wasn’t really any improvements in Jacks feeding.

I made the decision to stop feeding, at the breast and expressing as it was making me stressed and I wasn’t enjoying it.

Now Jack is having donor breast milk plus formula. Lovely ladies from Human Milk 4 Human Babies have selflessly donated their milk so that my son can have the best start in life. If this is something you may want to do, definitely speak to Breastfeeding Together about it! I’m so pleased I did!

My journey has not been the traditional breastfeeding journey, and it has not been easy, but I think it’s important for new mummies to know that breastfeeding is not always the rosy perfect image that we imagine or see on social media. There is more than one path on this journey, and breastfeeding together will be there to support your whatever path your journey takes and what ever decisions you choose to make!