Join #TeamMum to Help Women gain Breastfeeding Support in Meru, Kenya

Any mother will know that breastfeeding isn't always an easy journey. Yes, I think we all understand that in most circumstances it really is the best thing, and of course when you're in a country that can't guarantee a good, clean water supply it becomes even more improtant, but it can still be super difficult.

I was lucky enough to attend breastfeeding classes run by the NHS, along with NCT antenatal classes when I was pregnant with JJ. I can honestly say that these classes made the world of difference to me. When I was in hospital after my C-section and I couldn't get JJ to latch on properly I remembered all I had learnt at the classes and had the confidence to persevere and seek out help. We then had a good few months of successful and enjoyable breastfeeding.

With girls the situation was different, as tandem breastfeeding is quite a skill and add a toddler in the mix and you are pretty busy and quite a demand on your time. But again, I had the help of the local breastfeding counsellor and my health visitors to help me, enocurage me and find the right way through for my family.

Well Fed is Best! #FedisBest

Image from Shutterstock - Young Nursing Mother

I realise it is World Breastfeeding Week right now but what I am wondering is do we really need a world breastfeeding week promoted here in the UK? It was only six weeks ago that we had National Breastfeeding week and surely there is enough pressure on women to breastfeed in the UK already?

It is of course a different story in the developing world and breastfeeding is often the best option for nourishing a baby as there isn't access to sanitary water to be able to prepare formula milk. Although, as I saw in Ethiopia, even this isn't as cut and dried as it might seem as so many of the mums are so undernourished themselves that after having a baby their body can struggle to produce milk and certainly to produce milk that is of a good enough quality to adequately nourish the child. So of course the fight still needs to continue to ensure that all people in our world are able to be fed and nourished well.

But don't get me wrong, I am not at all anti-breastfeeding. I successfully breastfed two of my babes and really tried with the other but it wasn't to be so we moved to bottle feeding and it was the best thing for us as she finally started to put on weight instead of losing it and and heart-ripping label 'failure to flourish' was removed from over her head.

This time, 4 years ago...

I looked like this -

I was so ready to pop it was untrue, the blood pressure medication I was taking made me tired and I wanted to sleep all the time, I could hardly walk with all the swelling. I had been in hospital for 2 weeks already with pre-eclampsia, see that wrist band - they just let me home each day to see JJ for a couple of hours.  My Dad would drive to the hospital to get me and I would come home and flomp in bed to watch a DVD with my beloved boy, letting him have some special time with Mummy before those pesky sisters arrived.

My Story of Breastfeeding - Reality Bites!

All of us who are mothers have a breastfeeding story, it might not be the one we want but we have it none the less and once the time has passed and we no longer produce milk or have a child that it is appropriate to feed in that manner we can not change it. We have to accept it and move on...

So it saddens me to read posts, tweets or messages in forums about mums who are struggling to breastfeed, being pushed to breastfeed, feel uncomfortable feeding in public or any other reason that feeding their baby is giving them angst. Often these mums state that they feel like a failure and they have not fulfilled their natural role or that perhaps others have made them feel like that and you know what? It is completely wrong!

Image Source I remember those days!