"Breastfeeding Support and Success"

When my son was born in December 2018 I found breastfeeding really difficult. Pain during breastfeeding was massively over-normalized to me whilst I was in the hospital after his difficult birth and so I went home thinking "this hurts, but it'll get better". During his checks, one midwife mentioned a tongue tie and this was cut by the on-duty pediatrician. I left the hospital feeling so lucky that this had been identified so early on and that we'd get a good start with breastfeeding. 

Eventually, my positive attitude diminished as breastfeeding only became more painful. At this point, it was Christmas time and all the support groups had closed over the festive break and I became really unhappy, crying every day. Not because my baby was crying all the time (he was very content and reaching all milestones) or because I was tired (he slept quite well for a newborn) but because I was in excruciating pain every time I had to feed him. Once the support groups started up again in the New Year I reached out to them and they suggested getting in touch with the Infant Feeding Team and Aberdeen Maternity Hospital. 

The Infant Feeding team informed me that they didn't have many people available but would make sure someone got in touch, and the next day I received a call from Jill Gibson, an IBCLC. She made time for me to come into the hospital and was the first person to put on a pair of gloves and properly examine my sons mouth. She showed me how an examination to identify should take place (which never happened in the hospital prior to the initial cut) and told me that most likely his tongue tie had never been properly released. 

Jill immediately referred us to the tongue tie clinic. Once my son's tongue tie had been properly released by a doctor specialised in identifying tongue ties she saw us again to witness a breastfeed and ensure that we were supported. 

Breastfeeding afterwards became increasingly less painful and I have been breastfeeding my son now for over 13 months. I couldn't have done this without the support of Jill, or the Aboyne Breastfeeding Support Group who encouraged me to seek further medical advice, and continued to support me throughout maternity leave.