How to use your antenatal period to understand breastfeeding.
You are pregnant, congratulations!! There is a lot to think about and it can become overwhelming. You may have already started to look into your birth choices and are envisaging the type of birth that you would like to experience. You may also start thinking about names, buggies, where your baby will sleep and what kind of parent you are going to be.
Have you started to think about and prepare yourself for how you will feed your baby?
Breastfeeding is natural, it is the biological norm for mammals and therefor humans. It is not our cultural norm though. We don’t grow up seeing it, immersed in it as a normal part of life. You may have gone your whole life not actually seeing anyone close to you do it. So while it is natural it can be challenging but completely worth it.
It is important to prepare for breastfeeding as much as you prepare for the birth of your baby. Thinking about it and knowing what to potentially expect during your pregnancy can take a lot of the surprise out the whole situation when it comes.
We plan for birth. Are you ready to plan for breastfeeding?
How to prepare for breastfeeding?
It is important to do reading around the subject. Amy Brown’s The Positive Breastfeeding Book: Everything you need to feed your baby with confidence is a good place to start (her other book Informed is best: How to spot fake news about your pregnancy, birth and baby is well worth a read too). The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding by La Leche League International is another book you may find helpful. Or The Mindful Breastfeeding Book: Preparing you for calm and connected feeding by Anna Le Grange These are only a few and there are so many, you need to find one that speaks to you.
You may also want to book onto breastfeeding specific antenatal classes. These are another way of receiving information. Gathering information in different media sources is important. You may feel that you learn one way, maybe you are logical and analytical but hormones in pregnancy may change the way that you learn, so watching videos of breastfeeding, looking at pictures, going to workshops and reading will give you a full scope of different ways to learn. Antenatal classes can be one to one or in a group. Group classes can a good way to meet other mums and gain a support group.
A good place to start is thinking about how you want to greet your new baby, learning about skin to skin contact and why it’s so important for the newborn. I wrote about this in ‘The Golden Hour’ – The most important hug you will ever give.
Through reading and research you can learn what breastfeeding is like and what your newborn baby may behave like. One of the biggest surprises is what your baby will be like when they are born. They are unlikely to sleep regularly for long periods of time (in fact this is not normal for breastfed babies), they need a lot of comfort and cuddles, they breastfeed incredibly regularly. The average baby will feed as little as 8 times in 24 hours, it can be up to 16 times in 24 hours, this is normal. I wrote a bit about normal baby behaviour in Help! My Baby Is Normal!.
Then I think it’s time to ask yourself some questions and be truthful with yourself. You are going to grow into being a mother.
Start to think about your Goals:
What does breastfeeding your baby look like to you?
What do you know about breastfeeding and is it accurate. You will hear lots and lots of stories about breastfeeding. Some may be helpful, most will not. It’s important to get in your mind a clear picture of what breastfeeding means to you. Learn about and think about:
- The initiation of breastfeeding
- The journey to exclusive breastfeeding
- Your own thoughts, feelings and motivations on breastfeeding
How long do you want to breastfeed your baby for?
The World Health Organisation guidance is exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months, after 6 months complementary foods should be introduced and breastfeeding should continue to be a part of the baby’s diet up to 2 years and beyond.
That can sound daunting but if breastfeeding gets off to a really good start then it can be a natural progression to continue on. But things you may want to think about:
- The best way to get breastfeeding off to a good start
- Learn how breastfeeding changes as your baby grows, it doesn’t stay the same
- When do you return to work? How do you think breastfeeding will look at that point for you?
Then it is important to look at the Realities:
As I said above breastfeeding is natural and the biological norm but not necessarily normal for our culture which makes it hard, it is important to do the research and learn as much as possible about normal baby be
What are the realities of breastfeeding?
Breastfeeding can be intense to start, the first 8 weeks can be time consuming, you and your baby are learning a skill like driving a car or riding a bike. Think of a skill that you have. Do you knit? Sew? Play an instrument? Did you learn that skill in a day? A week? A month? The intensity of breastfeeding doesn’t last for the duration of your breastfeeding journey. Your reading will highlight what you might expect during the beginning of your journey.
What are your own responsibilities in your journey?
It is important to own your journey, to learn to advocate for yourself, and know when you need help. This resource from Unicef Baby Friendly Initiative which can help you understand when feeding is going well and when to seek support.
What could stand in the way of your ideal outcome?
There are vary issues that can create some challenges in your breastfeeding journey. I say challenges because a lot of issues in breastfeeding can be overcome or adapted to with time, practice, perseverance and the appropriate support. These can include:
- Pre-existing medical conditions e.g. PCOS, hypothyroidism, diabetes
- Antenatal conditions e.g. gestational diabetes, medicated high blood pressure
- Labour and birth e.g. medications such as pethidine or epidural,induction medication, instrumental births, abdominal births
- Postnatal e.g. low birth weight, premature birth, missed opportunities to learn
Being prepared and understanding breastfeeding will help to mitigate many of these challenges.
You might want to explore your options:
What appeals to you and what would serve you best?
Again you want to think about what breastfeeding looks like to you. Between exclusive breastfeeding and bottlefeeding there is a lot of variation in feeding but how that looks and comes about is up to you and what will work for you and your family. You have to decide what works for you. You then have to decide what will work for your family and your situation.
Do you have the details of local support? What form of support would appeal to you?
Find out where your local voluntary support is. There are a lot of variations of the breastfeeding drop in such as Baby Cafe. Some are run by midwives, health visitors, breastfeeding counsellors or International Board Certified Lactation Consultants often with peer supporters, mothers who have breastfed and had extra training to support you.
Many hospitals run specialist breastfeeding services facilitated by their Infant Feeding Lead in a clinic setting, they may or may not offer frenulotomy services as well.
You can always find local private support from breastfeeding counsellors or IBCLC if you would like personalised support in your own home but this often comes at a cost, but you are paying for specialist and tailored support.
Finally decide on your will to do this:
Exploring your options and deciding on what will work for you also depends on your will. This is going to be the most flexible part of your plan. It will change depending on your lived realities once baby is born
What is the first step?
As discussed above, it’s important to be as prepared as possible. In being prepared and knowing what you want but also what may be a challenge will help you overcome what you may face. Getting to know where your local support and building your village will help you feel that you have people to talk to. Writing down your plan helps to make it clear in your mind but also makes it easy for you to share with your husband, wife or partner.
Realistically how do feel your commitment is to your goals?
Breastfeeding takes a trust of your body and your baby, a commitment to the time that it will take to build the relationship with your baby and learn a new skill.
How does your plan sound and feel to you?
Your plan has to feel right for you, you don’t have to do anything that you do not feel that you want to do. If your plan doesn’t feel right then change it. Goals can always change and should always change. With the Grow model of preparation you should review your plan in a cycle. As your ideas change, as new information comes to you, as you face little challenges, as your goals move you can review your plan and adapt it. It should build and grow in a spiral of preparation, grow like a tree.
I hope this has been helpful for you, even if just for the links to the information on breastfeeding. This way of preparing isn’t the only way and if it doesn’t speak to you then find one that does. But if it does speak to you I hope it helps you….
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…GROW
Adapted from the GROW model https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_89.htm
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article sponsered by Northern Michigan certified lactation consulting and Mother Hubbards Country Cupboard
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