Preparing for breastfeeding whilst pregnant can be a game changer! Whilst we are pregnant, there can be so much focus on the actual birth and prepping all the paraphernalia that we think we will need when baby comes along. So often, all these thoughts and decisions overshadow any thoughts around meeting our new little person/people. This leaves so many families feeling unprepared for how much there is to learn when baby arrives, with feeding being one of the biggest challenges we face in those early days and weeks.
When I had my eldest, I thought I was prepared for the feeding side of things. I had been a Midwife for 7 years, supported countless families to breastfeed their own babies and had attended extra training on supporting breastfeeding families. I knew that I wanted to breastfeed and kind of just assumed that the desire to breastfeed and the knowledge that I’d gained as a Midwife was enough. I didn’t do any extra reading, didn’t consider where I may get support because I just didn’t expect to have any difficulties.
How wrong I was!
The reality was, I felt all at sea and so unsure in those early weeks. Added to this was the immense feeling of being overwhelmed at my new son’s intense needs. Especially when I was already feeling so exhausted following a long induction process and a long labour that culminated in a forceps birth in theatre. In those early days, we were trying so hard to learn this huge skill together but I was also struggling with finding it hard to find a comfortable position to sit in due to the birth, tiredness like I’d never experienced before (I thought that having worked night shifts I would be ok), and I was putting so much pressure on myself to do everything perfectly! (including cleaning and tidying before the community Midwife visited!)
By day 5, I had cracked, and bleeding nipples and we learnt that our son had lost nearly 13% of his birth weight. With this knowledge came the crashing first experience of Mum guilt, and only 5 days into this mothering gig!
What saved our journey was a combination of things – some incredible one to one support from my very knowledgeable and wonderful friend who had been my mentor in the community during my Midwifery training (and was an IBCLC); my determination to breastfeed; my Mum and husband cheering me on and respecting my wishes to breastfeed; no one telling me to ‘just give formula’, and a sound plan that helped my son and I forge our way forwards to reach our goals.
I have since seen so many mothers experiencing a similar journey to mine, there is so much that I have learnt since this experience that I know would have made a difference to the start of our feeding journey.
Don’t wait for baby to arrive, you can start to get educated around all aspects of breastfeeding your new baby before they are in your arms.
Here are 4 top tips for preparing before your baby arrives!
1.) Books –
There are some excellent and informative books that will help you to feel knowledgeable and prepared for breastfeeding and any challenges that you may experience – my favourites are ‘The Positive Breastfeeding Book’ by Amy Brown and ‘Breastfeeding and the fourth trimester’ by Lucy Webber. These both offer realistic, practical, evidence-based guidance, also sharing added information from various experts and real-life snippets from parents. They are both very reader friendly, I often describe them as like having a chat with a good (and very knowledgeable) friend!
2.) Suss out what free support may be available locally
Knowing this in advance can make life so much easier when you are feeling tired or emotional post birth. There are many support groups run by Association of Breastfeeding Mothers (ABM); La Leche League (LLL) or Breastfeeding Network (BFN) supporters, as well as some independent ones too. You can even attend one of these whilst you are pregnant, get to know the volunteers, the layout of the room, parking etc, so there is less to feel nervous about once baby arrives (we all get nervous attending somewhere for the first time, just know that you will be welcomed!). At the group I volunteer with every Friday, we love to welcome expectant parents and answer any questions you may have about your upcoming feeding journey. It’s also a fabulous opportunity to hear any top tips from any new parents that may be there for support that week. Be aware that your maternity unit and your health visiting team should also have infant feeding teams who can offer additional support, you just may need to ask for this as it won’t usually form part of your routine care plan.
3.) Suss out who your local IBCLC is!
Explore who your local IBCLC is, there are 809 of us in the UK (as of Feb 2024). The Lactation Consultants Great Britain (LCGB) have a fantastic ‘find an IBCLC near me’ map here – Find an IBCLC -International Board Certified Lactation Consultant – LCGB. Many of us offer antenatal consultations or packages of care to cover antenatal and postnatal too. An antenatal consultation can be great for exploring any specific concerns you may have and for really doing a deep dive for how to get off to the best possible start. If you have had a previous challenging feeding journey, an antenatal consultation can be beneficial for exploring what happened last time and how you can feel more prepared this time. If you don’t have an antenatal consultation though, store your local IBCLC’s details so you (or your partner) easily know who to call/email once baby arrives!
4.) Consider antenatal hand expressing
Some mothers choose to try antenatal hand expressing to see if they can collect any colostrum in advance. Always check with your Midwife or Obstetrician that there are no contraindications for you. Antenatal hand expressing can work well for some, however, one research study showed that as many as 25% of mothers trying to collect colostrum antenatally were unable to collect any/ less than 1ml (Forster et al 2017). If you do decide to try antenatal hand expression, just know that the ability to produce colostrum antenatally has no bearing on your ability to produce colostrum post birth. Whilst you are pregnant, your placenta is keeping the hormone progesterone high to sustain the pregnancy. Progesterone blocks the production and action of your milk making hormones, specifically your prolactin levels. Prolactin is the hormone that is pivotal in stimulating the breasts to make milk. For this reason, antenatal hand expressing can cause anxiety for some but for others who can collect some colostrum, this can be reassuring and act as a comfort blanket for when you get to those early days. Another plus side to practicing this skill whilst you are pregnant, it is one less thing for you to learn once baby arrives. Many mothers who have tried antenatal hand expressing reported increased confidence in hand expressing post birth, even if they had not managed to collect any colostrum prior to birth.
Liz Farrant 20th February 2024
Forster, D. A., Moorhead, A. M., Jacobs, S. E., Davis, P. G., Walker, S. P., McEgan, K. M., … & Amir, L. H. (2017). Advising women with diabetes in pregnancy to express breastmilk in late pregnancy (Diabetes and Antenatal Milk Expressing [DAME]): a multicentre, unblinded, randomised controlled trial. The Lancet, 389(10085), 2204-2213. .