Let's Breastfeed

Becoming a mum is one of lifes most rewarding experiences. Enjoy your baby from the very first minute and never look back with regret, guilt or sadness. You deserve the best support, so that you can be the best mum.

Mums frequently ask me why breastfeeding problems are so common, when breastfeeding is supposed to be so natural.

It all comes down to preparation done before baby arrives. As most ante-natal preparation focuses on the safe delivery of your baby, many mums don’t know how to feed and care for their baby when it has arrived safely and this is where many problems start.

The general advice is that you and your baby will instinctively know what to do, but as many of you will know, this isn’t always the way things unfold.

Worse still is the advice offered by well respected figures in the industry. A well known figure recently told mums that to establish breastfeeding and good sleeping habits, they needed to lie on their back with baby on their chest for 72 hours, so that the baby could suckle when hungry….not sure which planet this lady comes from or how on earth that will work with mums who have other children to look after.

Unrealistic advice like this, just makes mums feel like they are not doing what it takes to be a good mum and somehow should be more dedicated or they are to blame for baby’s poor weight gain, inability to go to sleep on their own and so on.

This is where I step in.. Mums, I want you to know that things are not going to be perfect from the start. You are going to have good days and shocking days, but you need to remember that all mums have problems. You are not alone even though the entire NCT group seem to be doing marvelously well!

There are ways to make things easier and run smoothly, of course there are, but you are on a very steep learning curve and you are learning whilst recovering from the birth of your baby and on very little sleep.

You would find being a mum a whole lot easier if you armed yourself with good old fashioned practical advice, regarding breastfeeding, settling techniques, winding or burping tips and how to establish a good rhythm for you and your baby.

You would also learn/absorb/bank a lot more of all this information if you learnt it before baby arrived – whilst you were still getting regulary bouts of sleep.

So if you are expecting a baby, I urge you to register on one of the Let’s Breastfeed Ante-natal Breastfeeding Workshops. It will be the best thing you do in preparation for the first 4 months of being a mum, with practical advice starting from day 1!