Ensuring a Good Start to Breastfeeding
When I fell pregnant with Mahi, I was sure I wanted to breast feed, however didn’t have the slightest clue about it, or what it would involve, other than my breast, and the said sleepless nights. This is where Mother Shaheda came in.
Her content has always been so useful and interesting that I knew I could trust the advice. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but I was willing to take up the challenge after learning about all of its benefits.
Colostrum is something that I had learnt about in my school years, and then heard alot about more recently when reading about pregnancy- I know it’s is seen as the equivelant of liquid gold and I knew if I couldn’t breast feed my Mahi, the least I could do was give her my colostrum due to its ample benefits.
To do this, I decided I wanted to harvest from 37 weeks onward. I ordered a kit from Shaheda- this was great- she sent it promptly, with plentiful syringes and labels; the organisation was on point.
Using the kit, and the posts from Mother Shaheda to learn how to encourage the colostrum out, I harvested 1ml a day, every day from 37 week until she was born , with the help of my amazing husband.
The harvested collustrum was frozen, and when I went into labour, we put it in a cool bag and took it to hospital. I was so happy that we had a plentiful stash, as it meant that while I did skin to skin with her, my husband was able to give her her first feed. She was nice and settled, and latched fairly well from the start- I think due to her prompt collustrum hit not long after she was born.
We used up my harvested collustrum fairly quickly, and I continued to collect it and top her up in between feeds- it just meant she stayed nice and content and it meant that I could rely on my family to feed her if I wanted a nap, Which honestly does wonders for your mental and physical well being when you’re recovering from labour! It helped her maintain her birth weight and thrive as my mature milk came through- this page has truly helped me with my ability and expectations of breast feeding.
Breast feeding is not easy in the slightest, but having the help of Shaheda has been my saving grace on many fronts; and I am forever grateful! She is honestly a fountain of breast feeding knowledge! Thank you from the bottom of my heart, as well as Mahi’s!
