The Importance of Breastfeeding Support

Last Updated on 21 February 2019 by Colette

It doesn’t matter how natural breastfeeding is – neither you nor baby has done it before and you do have to learn.  It is a skill.  It takes practice.  Patience, time and practice.

Mummy breastfeeding newborn son
Learning to feed Ben

I was lucky to have really wonderful, supportive midwives in hospital with each of my babies.  Each time they spent ages with me making sure I got my position and latch right.  They never pressured, they just knew I really wanted to do it and had all the patience in the world to help me get there.

I needed my community midwife to help me with positioning with Ben once we were home as I was getting sore and finding the he didn’t feed so well on one side – as soon as she had shown me what I needed to do we were flying.

Chloe was definitely hard to get started with her feeding – just because you are experienced doesn’t mean it will be plain sailing.  Again my midwives in hospital were superb, trying different positions, helping her to latch and eventually cup feeding her with me just to get her started.  The fact that I was an experienced breastfeeder and quite obviously committed to feeding Chloe successfully certainly helped to secure their time and effort in helping us – it would have been very easy not to bother.

Amy was a dream – she just got on with it and of course I was more confident about moving her around, getting that latch right and knowing when she was feeding well.

I’ve never attended any breastfeeding groups as I’ve just not needed to however I do think they’re really important.  Having people who have got the time to talk to you, to show you what to do and to tell you you’re doing a good job is vital.  So much of breastfeeding is about confidence.

I’ve always been very lucky that Dave is so supportive of my breastfeeding our children – he used to help me with positioning and latch (particularly with Ben) and even helping to express.  He will do anything he can to make sure that our breastfeeding journey is a successful one.  Having that support at home is invaluable.  Seeing me in pain with mastitis or exhausted after one too many night feeds it would be all too easy for him to say “Come on love, lets just give them a bottle” but he never has, he knows how important it is to me, to our children and therefore to him.

I remember talking to my Mum a lot when I was feeding Ben.  Things were so very different 30 odd years ago – we are taught to breastfeed on demand whereas when I was a baby Mum fed on a four hourly routine. I often asked her how you’d manage that – I’m so used to feeding my baby on demand that I can’t imagine looking at my watch and thinking “Sorry kidda, you’re not due a feed yet you’ll just have to wait an hour” – how on earth do you distract them for that long!?
Seeking out the right support for you is definitely key to successful and happy breastfeeding – be it in the form of a friend or family member who has been there or the professional advice of your midwife just ask. Ask for help. Ask the questions that you think are silly – they won’t be and they will have wondered it themselves at some point.  They will be happy to help you.

Author

  • Colette Burgess is an experienced primary school teacher and has lived in Manchester for most of her adult life. She is married to Dave and they have three children aged 12, 15, and 16.

    Colette has been writing about days out and adventures in Manchester and beyond including day trips and short breaks in the UK and holidays abroad since 2012.

    Colette and her family love festivals, camping and generally being outside.

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26 thoughts on “The Importance of Breastfeeding Support”

  7. My hubby and my mom were fantastic support. ? I also found twitter in the middle of the night great support

    Reply

  9. My husband has been the best support I could ever have hoped for. My mum on the other hand….ugh. Always ready with the latest bit of misinformation.

    Reply

  10. I had a great breastfeeding peer support person come straight after the birth she really helped us going in those early days.

    Reply

  11. A group that I attended called breast friends. it really gave me the confidence and also the support when needed

    Reply

  25. This is what I'm really worried about! It was lack of support that stopped me the first two times and it's made me determined to do it this time but I'm so scared I'll fail and have everyone telling me to just bottle feed 🙁

    Reply

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