A course to prep for breastfeeding, why?
I created a course to prep for breastfeeding I think over a year ago, but I didn’t get many sign ups in person. Then I decided I need to move it online, to make it mor accessible. But the interest has been quite mellow. I think this is because people that have never breastfed don’t understand how good it can be to come prepared for this journey. To prepare for birth is something many understand and choose to do, but breastfeeding? That’s just natural, right? Wrong!
Birth is as natural as breastfeeding but there are still huge benefits to preparing. The same can be said for breastfeeding. I see this in my work often. Parents who have prepared by reading, looking at videos, etc. usually are more relaxed and take in the information and help better than parents that haven’t prepared.
Imagine this: You get into a car for the first time, sit behind the wheel, turn on the engine and as you do that the person next to you explains how the gas, clutch and brakes work. The car starts moving forward. Then you find out you need to change gears, new information! Okay, clutch down, try to change gears as instructed. The engine stops. Then you restart the car, try again. Engine stops. Maybe you’ll get into second gear after a few tries. But now you have to turn out on to a highway. How would that feel?
You would never drive on a highway without knowing how to manoeuvre a car. But breastfeeding people thing will just work. Everything we learn in life has a learning curve! From lifting our heads, to grabbing things, to crawling, walking, speaking, etc. But breastfeeding is supposed to “just work.”
So I created a course. Because after working with postnatal care for close to ten years the most common thing the staff say is “Did they not prepare at all for this?” We wished you come with a base knowledge when your baby is born. This way when things get complicated you don’t have to hear all the information for the first time when you are sleep deprived, going through the biggest shift in hormones of your life in just a few days, trying to understand this new baby in your arms and trying to get baby to latch to your breast. This is a horrible time in life to receive any type of information, nothing sticks. Especially not when baby is crying bloody murder at the same time.
This is why I think a course would be helpful. But I’m not sure how to get those of you expecting a baby to feel the same? Do you want to drive on the highway before you know how to get into second gear?
