I breastfeed all 4 of my kids and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I loved the bond it created between me and my children. I was adamant that I wanted to give them the best start in life and I feel positive about my overall breastfeeding experience.
When I had my first child, I was scared and I really tried my best to exclusively breastfeed. During the first four weeks I thought I was losing my mind. I was dealing with sleepless nights and I felt teary as I wasn’t sure if my dd was getting all the milk she needed. I remember one night, I got so worked up. My dd wouldn’t stop crying so I asked my husband to go out to the 24 hour supermarket and buy some formula milk. I was so confident that I was going to breastfeed my dd that I didn’t even look into formula milk. I just remember seeing an advert for Aptamil on the tv so I asked hubby to grab that. He came back with the formula milk and I thought that it would solve my problems. I made up a bottle and tried to give it to my dd, but she was not going to make it easy for me. She drank an ounce of the milk and then vomited all over me. After that day, I never went back to the formula. I decided to persevere with the breastfeeding.
During the first four weeks, I asked for help from my health visitor and I also found the breastfeeding support groups super helpful. I felt like I wasn’t alone and it gave me the will power to carry on. I learnt that breastfeeding was a new process for me and for my dd, so I had to be patient.
The main problem that I experienced was that my dd wasn’t latching on properly. When I was given an easy fix to this problem, I felt relieved and it made breastfeeding more comfortable and rewarding. My health visitor told me that my posture was all wrong and showed me the right way to position myself into my feeding chair. Once I got the hang of breastfeeding, it was brilliant.
As a British Indian, I did find that breastfeeding was a taboo in my culture. Female breasts are regarded as sexual objects therefore using them to feed a child is seen as shameful. I never felt comfortable breastfeeding in front of my extended family and neither did anyone suggest that I do so. When I had more than one baby, I did find it easier to express milk and feed the baby using a bottle. This had it’s own challenges as I felt that the family made a big deal out of the bottle and questioned how I was able to express milk from my breast. These questions made me feel anxious and embarrassed too.
I also felt that my mother in law passed a lot of judgement on my feeding. She was constantly telling me that I wasn’t satisfying my baby or that I wasn’t producing enough milk and the solution was to use formula milk as a top up. I never did that and I fought against her words. At that time I felt that I did not want to be judged as being a bad mother. I was able to feed all my children for the first 6 months and more.
I’m not going to lie… breastfeeding made me lose all my baby weight everytime. I felt great!! There are also other benefits of breastfeeding your baby exclusively. Breastfeeding is convenient and free. It helps reduce the baby’s chance of infections and it can protect the mother from some cancers.
I would also like to add that although breastfeeding was for me, you should follow your gut instead of listening to what others are telling you to do. You will know what is best for your baby and you should feel no guilt if you decide not to breastfeed.
By Mandeep Rai Canterbury, Kent
Mandeep Rai Canterbury 