breastfeeding

Two stories of tongue tie - Leah’s story

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Audrey didn’t latch well, and it took a long time for my milk to come in, maybe 5 or 6 days. I was happy to demand feed, I knew it was optimal. And I knew what a good latch was meant to look like, and only very rarely did we get anything resembling one. I was always being asked when and how long she’d fed, in a clockless room, on strong pain relief, which complicated my reporting of popping her on and off the boob on cue. So more stress for not being compliant.

I was always going to breastfeed - Jo-Anne’s story

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So we had a go at breastfeeding. Trying to attach a very small baby (he was 2.4kg) was tricky and time consuming. He had no idea and didn’t think a nice wide mouth at all necessary. It also turned out he was just too small to suck hard enough to draw out my inverted nipples. Luckily for me there was a lactation consultant on. She came and assessed the non attaching feed and suggested using nipple shields. Once I started using nipple shields it all fell in to place. Oliver was able to attach and suck well. It was certainly not comfortable feeding, in fact down right excruciating would be a good term. Sucking basically rips all the tissue attachments that keep the nipple in. I screwed up my toes and breathed deeply. Feeds hurt the most at the start and then settled to a dull pain which I could cope with.

The things you do for love…. Sal’s story

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Almost from when A was born, he cried. Our poor little mouse. The first attempts to breastfeed were painful and difficult, he didn’t latch on properly and I can remember what seemed like an endless stream of midwifes thrusting by engorged breasts into his tiny red screaming mouth. Even when I got the hang of the positioning, his sucking felt like broken glass piercing the most sensitive part of my body. In desperation I started taking pain killers in order to feed him.

Arwen and Elisabeth’s Breastfeeding Journey

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Throughout my hospital stay I had been telling the midwives that breastfeeding was quite painful and I knew it shouldn’t be. I asked them to please have a look and make sure I was doing it right, because I was sure that I could not see any problem with my technique or the attachment. The midwives said that I was doing it right and that he was attached right, but at the same time they said if it hurt, there must be something wrong…

A rollercoaster of pain and frustration - Ditte’s story

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I had flat nipples and she had a tongue tie. We had her scheduled to have a frenotomy and till that happened I expressed (at that stage colostrum) and fingerfed her. On day four my milk came in - with a vengeance. I had way too much and my daughter couldn’t even begin to empty my supply. So my breasts were never fully drained and for that reason I got mastitis.