These archives contain extracts from discussions held on the UK Midwives and Consumers email list, a discussion group for people interested in midwifery in the UK. Open to midwives, students, mothers, and anyone interested in improving maternity services in UK. Posts in these archives express the views of the individual authors, and not those of the Association of Radical Midwives.
21 weeks today and it suddenly hit me. I had many breastfeeding problems with James (he is now 4.5) and gave up after a few weeks of hell, very little support from postnatal m/ws (who seemed resentful I had left hospital on the same day james was born, in fact one said I wouldn't have had these prbs had I stayed), sore and bleeding nipples, etc, when I called the NCTit was too late, obviously things happened because of bad positioning but even when I was learning how to do it it still hurt so much, which meant I could only feed for very little time and then he got too hungry and sucked harder, made it worse, and so on, and I couldn't carry it on. I feel guilty about giving up to this day :(
So I am thinking, oh no what if happens all over again with this one, I really want to breastfeed (I really wanted to with James too) and feel better prepared now etc. Have got many books out but they all focus on the feeding when the baby is born.
Is there anything I can do to prepare for it? My nipples feel very sore now as it is even before the baby has suckled (have already gone up 2 bra sizes), so will it be even worse? I am so scared that I won't bear the pain like last time... can I do anything to make them better or will the baby make it better by suckling? Any ideas?
First thing to remember is you can do it :)
I only managed on baby number 8. Troy is nearly 5 weeks now and we are feeding brilliantly. I had all the problems you mentioned and I now believe with the right support you can do it. One of the best places I found while pregnant for support was the breastfeeding list on Yahoo. I am hoping someone has the link to it, if not I will track it down for you :) Luckily this time I had a really supportive midwife who helped whenever there was a problem.
Get yourself in touch with a breastfeeding counsellor if poss before babe arrives and have a chat. I did and it really helps.
Liz
Your experience with James sounds almost identical to mine with Emily. Second time round I made sure that I had all the support line numbers to hand so that I could phone them as soon as I felt I needed help, but Kieran was a star he knew what to do right from the beginning.
I was *very* strict with myself, taking him off as soon as it started to hurt and re-latching him, making sure that his mouth was wide open before attempting to latch him on. Each feed took longer but it was worth it.
I'm sure you'll manage it this time, I have had slight soreness on my scars but on the whole it's been fine with both of the boys and I'm still happily feeding Alex at 7 months.
Cerys
LW updated July 9, 2004