Supporting Exclusively Pumping
For both of my children I knew I wanted to exclusively breastfeed from the start. I wasn't able to with my first, partly due to a latching issue, a lack of support and education. Now with baby M, I again found myself at the point where I was really struggling with breastfeeding. I was feeling the same anxiety and pressure I felt with my first.
I feel like support with feeding is scarce as it is and even more so in the current climate. I decided to reach out to Shaheda about advice on exclusively pumping as an alternative as I knew she had personal experience with this.
I find some midwives really make you feel uncomfortable about taking the baby directly off the breast but this wasn't the case with Shaheda. She advised me on how I could pump to ensure my baby was exclusively breastfed while always reassuring me that I should do what I felt comfortable with. I felt like she really listened to what I wanted and supported me with what would work best for me.
Pumping 8x a day is gruelling, especially with an 3 year old to look after. I knew before I began I wouldn't be able to keep up. Shaheda kept on reminding me that whatever breastmilk he was getting was better then nothing at all and it was ok to supplement with formula if I needed. This is what I needed to hear to keep me going.
Even though I knew my supply will eventually decrease, this was the best plan for me and my current lifestyle. This really kept me going. I wanted to give up so many times but I just kept referring back to this in my head.
I managed to excluseivley pump for 6 months just as I inteded. Shaheda used to check in from time to time and it really helps me to run things by her knowing that she is a qualified midwife. It gives me peace of mind that I don't get elsewhere and I wish I had this kind of advice and support available to me when I had my first baby. It really is invaluable.
