Happy World Breastfeeding Week! Here’s how to set yourself up for breastfeeding success.
I breastfed both of my boys until they were around two years old (give or take a couple of weeks) and let me just say – I did not always love it. At some points I truly hated it. However, it was a choice that I made and I’m happy and proud of the accomplishment that it is and was. And about six weeks before my youngest’s second birthday when I realized we had reached the end of our breastfeeding journey together, I joyfully ended things and never looked back.
Much like pregnancy, childbirth, and parenting in general, it can be heavy, hard, painful, and beautiful in ways that are up to you to choose and literally no one else’s business!
So, whether this is your first time attempting to breastfeed or your second, third, etc. it is a commitment not to be taken lightly. It is a journey with ups and downs and if making it to a certain goal (six months, a year, two years) is what you are committed to, I want to offer you some resources to help you get there.
Preparation is Key for Breastfeeding Success
If breastfeeding is important to you, or if you’re just curious about what it fully entails, I encourage you to seek out a lactation consultant before the birth of your child. (Side note: if you are reading this with a newborn babe in your lap, leaking from all orifices, don’t fear! This is for you, too!)
If you are reading this with baby still cooking, I cannot recommend reaching out to a lactation consultant now, before baby arrives, enough. There is so much that I did not know about how breastfeeding works before my first child arrived. And God bless the lactation consultants at my birthing hospital; they were wonderful. But nowhere in any of my birthing classes did they explain to me that it can take days, sometimes up to a week, for your milk to come in after giving birth.
The trauma that I experienced when the first pediatrician I saw threatened me with hooking my baby up to an IV if I didn’t give him formula immediately will probably haunt me to the end of my days. My milk just hadn’t come in and yet and was, and is, fine.
A lactation consultant, and/or lactation doula, can be a literal lifesaver in those early days when there is so much uncertainty and so little sleep. The Motherhood Center and Bay Area Breastfeeding are both excellent lactation resources.
So are other moms! Ask around your mom groups or mom friends for recommendations. Many of these care providers work primarily by word of mouth. Many also offer zoom or other online consultations, so if you can’t make it in to see someone in person, there are options!
Check your Insurance
Breastfeeding can take many forms that, again, birthing classes don’t necessarily prepare you for. If you’re like me and neither of your children take to a bottle, you may exclusively breastfeed. Maybe you pump and breastfeed both at the breast and with a bottle. Maybe you supplement with formula. You don’t necessarily know which category you are going to fall into until you arrive there, so again, preparation is key. Go ahead and get yourself a pump now, so it’s one less thing you have to worry about later.
Most insurance providers cover one breast pump per pregnancy. Do some research and ask around about which pump is best for you, because not all breast pumps are created equal. This online resource can help you figure out what postpartum essentials are covered by your insurance.
Donor Milk is an Option
Donor milk can enter the chat in a couple of ways. With my first baby, I pumped obsessively, even long after it became apparent that he was not going to take to bottle feeding. I ended up with a supply that quickly overran my freezer storage capacity and had to figure out quickly what to do with all of the excess milk that I was hoarding. I chose to donate to Mother’s Milk Bank, a non-profit organization that provides human donor milk to medically delicate babies on a prescription-only basis.
Because of the nature of the donation, it was a lengthy process to apply to be a donor and a lot of work for a new mom with a new baby to constantly be hauling loads of milk to the hospital. That being said, I’m happy that I did it and am happy to recommend it as an option.
With my second child it became clear pretty quickly that he, too, was not a fan of bottle feeding and honestly, I didn’t fight it or really even try that hard. I was a full time SAHM at that point and fully resigned myself to taking on all of the daily and nightly feedings for the duration.
I also chose not to pump with my second child either, and instead opted for a hand-help Haaka, which I cannot recommend enough. So while I didn’t have the out of control milk supply that I did with my first, I still had more than I needed.
At this point, I happened to be in a unique situation. A close friend of mine, who had a newborn exactly two months older than mine, was actively seeking human donor milk for her child. I was able to donate milk to her and her child in a much more relaxed situation that worked great for everyone involved.
If you find yourself in a situation of either needing a donor or needing to donate milk, there are online resources that can help. Human Milk 4 Human Babies is the largest and most trusted peer to peer milk sharing resource available, with networks all over the globe, including Texas. In general, my friend noted, you want to steer away from any groups that exchange money for goods or services when it comes to breast milk sharing.
Whatever your breastfeeding journey may be, please remember this: you are doing great. It feels hard because it is hard; you’re not doing anything wrong. You are exactly what your baby needs. And if you need help, ask. There are resources available. You are not alone.
