Breastfeeding Support Exists!
The mother of this baby was so relieved when she found out that there were people that would come to her home and help her with her breastfeeding. She had her baby 5 weeks early and was unable to get a successful latch at the hospital. When she was released from the hospital the staff encouraged her to keep trying to get a good latch and in the meantime to pump her milk and feed her baby from a bottle. The more she tried to latch her wee babe the more frustrated she and he became. She was hooked up to a pump often and then feeding from a bottle after. This was taking so much longer to feed her baby and she was becoming swiftly exhausted.
Through her tears of frustration she approached the edge of giving up when she remembered our discussion. We had talked a few weeks earlier about how I offer my Lactation Coaching services independently of my Doula services; one can be used without the other. Her partner was home and incredibly supportive and all she needed was to figure out this “breastfeeding stuff”. So at 9 pm on a Tuesday night she reached out to me asking if I would be available to come to her house to help. I showed up at 10 am the next day anticipating some challenges that could be present with a preemie that had been exclusively bottle feed for 7 days.
We talked about her birth story and waited for the feeding cues from her baby. When he started rooting I watched to see how they were going about things and that wasn’t well. Mom and baby were frustrated. She sighed deeply as she looked up at me deflated and said in a exasperated tone, “see?”. I smiled at her reassuringly and asked if she was ready for some help. Much to both of our surprises, I was able to latch the baby wonderfully in one fell swoop! He had a terrific feed at the breast and spread great relief to all present.
With this beautiful situation all that was needed was some fundamental breastfeeding knowledge. Knowing what cues to look for when feeding needs to be initiated, learning the holding positions available, how to tell what a good latch looks and sounds like, and the secret to a shorter more satisfied feed were all that was needed. This particular mom and baby went from exclusively bottle fed to exclusively breastfed in one visit (in alignment with what her goal was). I came a few days later to introduce more feeding positions and fine tune the latch as those were the only things needed.
New families, fear not! If you are struggling with breastfeeding or expecting a baby soon and would like some information please reach out. I come to your home and do both an education component before baby is born and practical application once the baby is born. Rest easy as breastfeeding support exists and helps!