By Kathryn Koonce
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| Eli at one month |
Two weeks after my
son Eli was born in February 2012, his doctor was concerned that he wasn’t
gaining enough weight even though I was nursing him around the clock.
I was
exhausted, felt like a huge failure, and was getting pressure from all around
to give up and use formula.
The problem was that he was not latching correctly.
He was doing “non-nutritive sucking” - he would stay at the breast for long
periods of time (sometimes more than an hour) for comfort, but wasn’t taking
much milk.
I felt a surge of pain like lightening throughout my body each time
he latched but I didn’t realize this was because he wasn’t latching correctly.
Ultimately my supply went down and he wasn’t getting enough milk which made him
very, very fussy. Our first two weeks together were miserable.
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| Eli at 3 months |
I worked with a great lactation consultant and after three
weeks of very hard work (charting Eli’s feeding schedule, expressing and
nursing at least 12 times a day, and weighing Eli before and after feeds) we
finally got back on track. When he
started to really gain weight and his thighs became soft and pudgy, I was a
very proud Mama!
When my daughter Naomi was born in December 2013, I was able to
recognize when she was not latched correctly but I still experienced intense
pain and even worse – mastitis (a breast infection that started with a clogged
milk duct). I was so weak that I couldn’t get out of bed until finally I was
treated with antibiotics.
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| Naomi at 3 months |
But I recovered and things got much easier. My
daughter will be eight-months-old on August 10 and I am still breastfeeding her
even though I have returned to work.
I was surprised that breastfeeding was so difficult. I
thought that it would come naturally and easily immediately after my babies
were born.
I was also surprised by how down I felt when I wasn’t able to
provide my son with the most basic thing that he needed. I want women
everywhere to know that breastfeeding doesn’t always come easily. PYM
3 comments:
breast feeding is always the best..
Exclusive breastfeeding is good for a new-born baby and this has to be done for the first six months. It is important that parents, nutritionists and health staff find ways of helping mothers provide breast milk to their new-born babies exclusively for the first six months.
I was just surprised at how difficult breast feeding can be sometimes. This post reminded me of the experience a friend had with her baby who used to bite her nipples when breast feeding. She was always left bruised. Breast feeding was a terrible experience for. So I agree with Douglas, health staff need to help mothers learn how to breast feed the right way.
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