"Supportive staff"

Before having my baby, I had heard horror stories about health visitors, how ‘mean’ and judgmental’ they can be, however I had the complete opposite experience. My health visitor was amazing. She was so lovely, informative and was so supportive. She clearly cared about her job and was enthusiastic every visit we saw her. She not only asked about my baby but she asked about me and while I was going through the baby blues she really supported me and made me feel a little less crazy than I felt lol. 

When my little girl was around 5 weeks old, I was encouraged by my health visitor to seek support with breastfeeding as I left the hospital with a baby who wouldn’t latch without using shields. I was pointed towards the baby breastfeeding group at the family hub and also the infant feeding clinic at Central to get support. The leader of the group, Leah, was very supportive and asked me about my breastfeeding journey and how it was going. She checked for tongue tie and suspected a posterior tongue tie and explained this could be a reason as to why my little girl wasn’t latching correctly. She then advised me to go to the infant feeding clinic also to officially get the tongue tie diagnosed and be referred for it to be corrected.

After the tongue tie was corrected, Leah was very supportive in my breastfeeding journey and gave me lots of advice on how to maintain my supply and help my little girl latch without shields. She eventually learnt to latch without shields a couple of months later with lots of patience and perseverance and we are still breastfeeding going on over 10 months now! Leah’s group is lovely to go to every week and I’ve met some great friends there too.

Attending the infant feeding clinic, Claire also checked for tongue tie and helped us get referred to correct my little girl's tongue tie. I was supported with my little girl's latch using the shields and also how to come off the shields - I was advised this can be a slow process while she figures out her new tongue! They also checked her weight as necessary before and after the tongue tie revision to ensure she was gaining weight well. Lots of advice was given and it was also a lovely clinic to go to. It was a relaxed environment and was offered hot drinks and snacks whilst you feed baby!

I also had to reach out to the health visitors when my little girl decided to have a feeding strike!! They were so supportive and answered any questions I had even when I was an emotional mess over the phone!

All in all, without the combination of the services, but especially the support of Leah every week, I don’t think we would have breastfed for as long as we have. I am so glad we had the support as it is not as easy as I thought it would be. Thank you again.