"Feeding Support"

I had a very hungry baby on my hands from day one and feeding was going rather well. However, about 4 days after coming home my baby just would not latch, we were both crying and stressing. To top it off the midwife had just informed me the baby would have to go back up to hospital as her jaundice would need treatment. How was I going to get to hospital (30mins away) when my baby hadn't even had a proper feed all morning? Queue more stress and crying. I had already met Lana, our feeding support worker as she had come to visit us during our pregnancy to answer all the questions I had about breastfeeding. She was so friendly and made sure I knew she was there for support whenever required. So I gave her a ring. She assured me all would be fine and she was popping into to see us before the hospital appointment. When she arrived she put me right at ease, we had a talk about what was going on and how we might improve the latch. I then tried to feed with these tips and voilà my hungry baby was back on feeding like a trooper. Lana stayed till the feed was done and I was confident that we were back on track with feeding. The baby slept the entire journey back to hospital. I have no doubt that journey would have gone down like a lead balloon had Lana not taken the time to come support me before hand. 

Further down the line (6-8weeks old) our little one developed really bad gas that she struggled to pass. This made her feeding patterns change dramatically and I worried that her latch was maybe cause some extra wind. Again, I was able just to give Lana a quick text and she arranged to come for a visit. She put me at ease about baby gas, checked out our latch, checked tongue tie then gave me some really useful info about baby massage, colic hold and use of a sling to ease my babies discomfort. By the time she had left I felt confident again that I had more tools to help my baby get back to her usual self. 

Being able to see a feeding support worker on a weekly basis has been a godsend on my feeding journey. Just a week or so ago (4months old) I noticed my baby was just not getting as much milk as she needed/wanted at nights. I was able to just have a quick chat with Lana, who again was so knowledgeable about helping keep up with my babies demands. Giving me techniques to improve the supply and ensuring me that my body will meet my babies new demands after a short transition. 

I had always intended to breastfeed my baby for the health benefits for us both. I never envisioned how difficult something so 'natural' could be and if it wasn't for the feeding support workers (Lana in my case) there is no way that I'd still be breastfeeding by almost 5month old.