feeding

Considering most of my days have been spent doing post-baby interviews, meeting all of the new bubs from The Baby Bump Project, and chatting about labour and delivery, I have been thinking alot more about breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is one of the most potent topics of conversation in the post-birth interviews for good reason; for alot of the first-time mums I've interviewed, it's hard. Damn hard. Hard like they never expected and no one ever told them. Sure, there are a few women who have babies that latch on without any fuss and the feeding is simply a pleasure. For most, however, feeding takes work and practice and alot of consultation to get it right. One woman in the public system here in Melbourne was having so much trouble feeding, she was referred to a lactation consultant. Sure, that's all well and good but she couldn't get an appointment for 10 days. 10 days! In that ten day period, she developed mastitis and a severely cranky baby because her nipple was too banged up to feed and no one told her to continue through the pain. So, for any women out there who need some help, I give you this:

I came upon this resource which has a clever name and great information and products:
The Pump Station http://www.pumpstation.com/pumpstation/

You're probably saying, 'Meredith, The Pump Station is in America and I'm in [insert your country here]. How is this going to help me'?

Have a look at the resources in the upper left hand corner of the website, Helpful Tips. There are videos, articles and maternity bra guides all at your fingertips, so it doesn't matter where you live.

Also, I read another blog about motherhood called The Washing Line http://thewashingline.blogspot.com/ and there is a great post about the 'Fourth Trimester' and one mum's reflection on being connected to her son through breastfeeding.