Stacey’s Breastfeeding Story.

During my pregnancy I worked in a really stressful job in social care which got even more full on during the Covid 19 pandemic and as a result in hindsight I feel like I was sleepwalking through some of the decisions I made in pregnancy without thinking too much about them.

Hence I knew I wanted to breastfeed and beyond that I hadn’t imagined what it would be like and what stresses it may or may not put on me. In fact it only entered my mind that I might not be able to breastfeed the few days before I was induced so I quickly ordered a starter kit of bottles and a steriliser just in case (I forgot the formula but the thought was there).

I was induced at 38 weeks and I again o was so focussed on the birth and how it would work during a pandemic that the breastfeeding was at the back of my mind. When Hattie was born she latched on instantly and I thought great- that’s that sorted then. Of course it wasn’t and when I came back from having surgery I was pretty out of it and agreed to her being topped up with formula by the staff at the hospital as I was just in no state to hold her let alone feed her. So the next morning when I came to feed her she wouldn’t latch on.

The staff in the hospital ward really tried to help me but every time I pressed the buzzer a different person came to help giving me their take on what I should be doing and 12 hours later she still hadn’t latched on my boobs were sore and had been prodded, poked and squeezed by what felt like everyone in the hospital.

I agreed with the head midwife that I should stay a second night to try and master it and an amazing healthcare assistant gave me a pair of nipple shields which changed everything instantly and Hattie guzzled away happily. So I went home happily with my nipple shields. The first few weeks were tough and I never realised how long it would take to feed her as well as how often she would feed. So after listening to lots of different advice and views I decided I would start to give her a bottle overnight so she would go more than 2 hours between feeds. So over the next few weeks I experimented with how much to bottle and breastfeed to suit us both as well as trying to support her weight gain which wasn’t happening as it should whilst just breastfeeding.

We are 12 weeks in now and have found a lovely routine that suits us both. I breastfeed overnight and in the morning and the bottle feed until bed time. I now enjoy the time I do breastfeed and enjoy that I can have some time and headspace where my husband can feed her instead.