I breastfed for 3 weeks. battled bad cracks for most of that time. i went home the day of my birth, and had a midwife (same lady throughout pregnancy) visit me at home. she was helpful but after just 2 weeks, handed me over to the early childhood health centre. so i had no help with breastfeeding. when the cracks got unbelievably painful and i was full to bursting, i just gave dd formula. never bothered to call midwife. she then loaned me an electric pump but i got only a small amount of milk. it turns out i wasn't having let downs. cracks were healing and back onto boobs (i felt it was too soon, but she had all the experience). no more care, no more pump and cracks came back within 3 days. got myself a pump (hired) and got 40ml of milk total in 3 days. so i just gave up. later on at mother's group, one mum had a feeding line and was on milk production meds. wish i had more support and could have done that. my family were all supportive of me giving dd formula. she plumped up and put on a heck of weight within a few weeks. there is a definite lack of support for those who are struggling. and there are advertisements for formula but only for toddlers i have seen. i had no idea which one was right for her, i just got whatever the chemist had.
ps sorry for long post, my first