"Amazing breastfeeding support"

When my second child was born I expected breastfeeding to come naturally like it did with my first child. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case. After a quick delivery, baby was reluctant to latch and seemed distressed at times. Bonnie from the breastfeeding support team contacted me to check in on how things were going, after I voiced concerns she came out to visit and observe feeding. I was at a complete loss and really emotional but Bonnie was very supportive, knowledgable and patient as we tried to get baby to latch, however she would/could not. So we put a feeding plan in place where i hand expressed and fed via syringe. 

Things continued to deteriorate and we were admitted due to dehydration and 12% weight loss. Contact with the breastfeeding support team was maintained throughout the admission and afterwards. Thankfully after the admission and over time, baby got stronger with her feeding. It took a few months for baby to stabilise in weight gain, and turns out her discomfort and difficulties feeding had been caused by CMPA and reflux, so once that was rectified her feeding has been great.

The support I received from Bonnie and the team was and is amazing, equally proactive and responsive. I was seen the day I raised concerns and a plan was put in place quickly. Even after breastfeeding was established and going well, I have known that they were at the other end of the phone. 

There was clear communication between the community midwife and breastfeeding support team during the early days which helped keep on top of baby’s progress

Without the team, I doubt I would have lasted 6 weeks breastfeeding, let along 6 months and still going strong!