Do you think that you were adequately prepared?

[BellyBelly]

To coinside with an article this month, do you think you were adequately prepared for breastfeeding with your FIRST baby? Do you think you had enough resources, information and education at your fingertips?

[blue daisy]

Hey Kel

another great Q

I was as prepared as I guess you could be in regards to info...being a m/w and all, but I was suprised at the lack of support from the m/w when I had Finn...first I was denied the first BF after birth, as he was taken to neonates, then he was given a formula tube feed without my permission (and I worked at this unit)...grrrr...he was also given 'top ups' without my permission

when I did get my baby back, I was not at all prepared for 1.5 - 2hrly BF and really struggled with him crying all the time and wanting to be at the breast
I didnt BF for long...only 4 weeks...and was diagnosed with PND...not at all what I hoped for motherhood to be

with Jay...just popped him on whenever he even opened is mouth and BF was joy and he was a very happy baby

now to prepare women I teach...I focus more on the emotional aspects of BF rather that the practical

xx yogababy

[Roryrory]

Absolutely I was well prepared. I read every book I could on the subject (including ones on the politics of BF vs formula companies) and knew all about attachment, what to avoid in terms of mastitis and so on, different positions, feeding patterns, etc. It got to the stage that before Flynn was born I felt I had learnt all I could and all I needed now was the baby. I was also prepared in that I knew BF was a relationship, a two-sided thing, and that baby had to do his part for it to work. In terms of resources, the best book was "Breastfeeding...Naturally".

What I was unprepared for, though, was the rigours of expressing once I returned to work and the drop in milk supply when I became pg with Oliver which lead to weaning Flynn at 9 months rather than making it at least to 12 months which had been my plan. But I reckon I will iron those kinks out this time

[Kazbah]

I felt very let-down (pardon the pun). I had a breast reduction a couple of years ago and prior to the birth I felt there was no support for me. Then after the birth it was "you should feel the let-down" and "your milk will have come in by now". But if you don't know how it feels, how can you say yes or no, you do or don't?

II would have preferred to be referred to ABA or go to a clinic *before* the baby came, or immediately, while I was in hospital still.

[MantaRay]

I thought I was prepared - I knew that it might be difficult and I knew that there are LC's to help and also the ABA. And if I hadn't had a tongue-tied baby that might have been enough. But I did have a tongue-tied baby and that was how I learnt that mws mostly don't know very much about bfing problems. It was only 2 weeks later that I found out that the tongue-tie was the cause of the problems - the mws in hossy all said that tongue-ties don't cause those problems and that my nipples were the issue. Given that he fed fine after the tongue-tie was snipped, and DS2 fed from the beginning with no problems, I'm tipping the mws were wrong.

I believe that the only reasons I was able to establish a successful bfing relationship were firstly the ABA, and then the doctor who correctly diagnosed the problem and snipped the tongue-tie. Also being fortunate enough to be allowed to stay in hossy until he was at least attaching with nipple shields. If I had had to go home without that, I seriously doubt anything could have helped me.

[CatherineL]

Well I thought I was prepared, I did heaps of reading and got heaps of tips from friends, like make sure you call a MW EVERYTIME you attach just to make sure it's correct - even when you think it is. I did that and was always told it was correct, but man it hurt. Obviously it wasn't correct. I watched videos on attachment, I went to BF'ing classes before and after I was pregnant. We still seemed to have every problem under the sun. I really think the MW's in the hospital didn't have enough time to spend with me, as I was the only vaginal birth patient in the part of the ward and the rest were c/s patients and needed constant care and their babies always needed to be fed by the MW's so I hardly got to see a MW unless I buzzed. The MW with the early discharge program was most helpful as she was able to spend one on one time with me and work on my BF'ing and hang around for a couple of feeds. I could call her when ever I wanted and she put me in contact with a fabo LC. I suppose I was really naieve in hindsight because I thought BF'ing would be the easiest thing out of the whole motherhood experience as women have been doing it for centuries. How wrong I was...

[StrawberryMumma]

I felt pretty well prepared, but I think that was only because of the type of job that I do.

If I had only the antenatal classes, and bf pamplets etc that are given to expectant mums then I don't think I would have been prepared. No where is it written how tiring bf is, how early on you feel a bit 'smothered' (sp? sorry!), how uncomfy it is when your milk comes in, and how much pressure and guilt you can feel with bf. In those early days it's really hard work and I don't think most mums are aware of that.

[bon]

I wasn't prepared at all - I went to one BF antenatal class at the hospital, which was basically useless - all we did was play around with dolls and holding them in different ways. My lack of preparation, combined with a host of other things led to DS being FF from 10 days old.

[rosehannah]

I wasn't as prepared as I could have been, I had looked a few books and thought "yep I can do that" and was disappointed when I had attachment issues. the midwives at the hospital were encouraging but didn't seem to help. Thank goodness for ABA is all I can say.

[Matryoshka]

Yep i definately was.

Firstly i already assumed that breastfeeding was the only way to go... i actually thought formula was for people with severe issues. I'd also read books and researched any potential problems throughout my entire pregnancy. I had my dh behind me supporting me 100% and i made my wishes clear at the FBC that i would be breastfeeding. So they encouraged me to put DS on constantly in the first 24 hours and i believe that contributed to a huge supply and armed with all the support and info i had no breastfeeding issues. Later on the tiredness became and issue and then a few months later i battled a gaping hole for 4 months but had great support and got through that. So yep i did feel prepared.

[August]

I voted no which is unfortunate. My DS needed an op after birth and time in NICU which we knew about before he was born, so my time was spent researching expressing and getting organised for that. I thought once he got on the breast it would be smooth sailing from there...I didnt know anywhere near enough info on BF, not the physical side but the mental side of it. Things may have been different if we had of been able to be together in those first few weeks so hopefully things will be different with the next bub!

[Zee]

Well lets just say that I thought it would be easy as to BF, thought you just popped them on the boob and you would be right.. what a rude shock was I in for!!

Having said that, PIL & my Parents made sure I was prepared in telling me I had to have bottles packed & formuls for my hospital bag incase I couldnt BF *sigh*. Things will be different this time round.. I WILL BF!!!

[Snowy Love]

I answered I was somewhat prepared, I felt I had enough at the time.

I'm one of the fortunate ones, who didn't have many problems, however I don't know if I'd have coped with problems in the beginning after we sorted out attachment. I was prepared for completly different advice from different midwives, but as it happened they all pretty much sang the same tune at my hossy.

[*Ali*]

I wasnt as prepared as i should have been- but I was very lucky that DD latched first go and we didnt have any problems after that. So even though I didnt have the info I should have, I didnt have any problems, had I had difficulties I dont know that I would have known what to do or who to turn to.

[PinkPalace]

I didnt like the way that breastfeeding started.
I understand that i gave birth within 10 minutes of arriving in the labour ward - i had no idea who the midwife was (or the other 6 people in the room watching) were.
I was still in my clothing (minus pants obviously lol) and she just ripped my top up, unclasped my bra, and grabbed my boob in her hand and threw bub on and left.
She didnt even say anything to me or anything! I was little upset by all this and did not see her at all afterwards as it was change of shift an hour later.

i discharged myself 6 hours post birth and drove back to my local hospital where i figured out how to breastfeed and had some nice mw's on nightduty talk to me about it!

I did however have one Mw (who had never had kids b4) when i asked for panadol cause i hurt all over say that if it is for sore boobs then i need to get used to it and panadol isnt the right thing to help with the pain... not impressed to be told this!

But i figured it out myself - found my local ABA group and it made things a lot better and easier!

[Janie]

I answered I was somewhat prepared, I felt I had enough at the time.

I did SO MUCH research, and classes, and preparation. I paid alot of attention to attachment, and I think that helped, we have never had any problems there. I agree with Rory, the book "Breastfeeding.....Naturally" was a great resource. As was, and is, BellyBelly.

I was, however, not prepared for a premature baby, and what that meant in regards to breastfeeding. I had very little info, and so was mistakenly guided by the health professionals in feeding my DS. As a result we have had a whole world of BFing troubles, but I am proud to say that we have stuck it out are still going .

Knowing what I know now, I would have done things VERY differently. But you can only go with what you know at the time. Next time WILL be different

[LuluHB]

I thought I was prepared because I had done a fair bit of reading and gone to classes, but there's really nothing like actually doing it - which obviously you need your baby for! I was lucky I guess in that my baby attached beautifully in the delivery ward and then in our hospital room the first time when the MW made sure she was there. Then unfortunately they just took the view that we had it completely under control so I got no supervision/help whatsoever. I had asked for help with various positions, ie lying down while feeding, and was told to call the MW the next time I was about to feed, but then had to wait for so long that I ended up having to feed DD anyway. Also, nobody told me about cluster feeds etc and when I queried if it was normal that my DD had been feeding for 4 hours straight the MWs were too quick to just say "yep, keep feeding"! Definitely a problem with the hospital that had too few midwivesto look after all the new mums and bubs.

[Feathertop]

I felt I was as prepared as I could be, while still knowing that the reality would be more challenging! It really helped that my husband and I went to a BF class run by the ABA before the baby was born, it gave us lots of time to talk about things like attachment and also see it in action. This meant my husband could give me great support and feedback when it wasn't quite right, he could see Angus' head wasn't in the right position or something.

One thing I wish had happened more is that the MW would have helped me get the baby out of the crib for each feed. As I had a c section, I just couldn't manage to sit up in bed and then lift the baby out. I had to get out of bed, pick up baby, then sit in the chair to feed every time. Very exhausting and not great for the swollen feet. If only they had come when I buzzed the first couple of days to help me get baby organised, I think I would have called on them more and wouldn't have got so worn out. In the hospital where I had the c section they were very busy so I could understand that. Then I transferred to the small hospital near home, where they only do vaginal deliveries (lots of natural births happen here) and so I think the MW treated me like I had delivered vaginally. In other words, it didn't cross their minds that I'd need help with every feed to pick baby up and get comfy. I think if I had had their help and been able to have more feeds in bed, I wouldn't have been so buggered.