Breastfeeding - how to prepare
Breastfeeding is something that I am very passionate about and can be quite a hot topic. The rate of breastfeeding has been declining in Sweden over the last couple of years, so there is work to be done!
If you want to set yourself up for a successful breastfeeding journey keep on reading and watch this video.
Many overlook the fact that they need to prepare for breastfeeding during pregnancy. Though people seem to think it’s important to prepare for the birth journey many seem to not give breastfeeding a thought. There seems to be an inherent belief that breastfeeding is natural and “just works”. But I believe that just like preparing for birth, preparing for breastfeeding can be incredibly helpful. I have seen this in my work in postnatal care a lot, that the people that are prepared give it more time and effort as they have more realistic expectations of what breastfeeding is like.
My first tip is to learn about breastfeeding in general. This can be reading a book or blog, watching YouTube or listening to podcasts. In some locations a breastfeeding course may also be available for you to take. Like everything else in life the more you know the better you will do.
Ask for help! After birth ask the hospital staff to support you through breastfeeding and explain to you what it should look like and feel like. When you get home and struggle ask for help! In some locations you will find breastfeeding support in the hospital with very knowledgeable staff. And in some locations you can get peer support by a breastfeeding mother that comes home to you and helps you through Amningshjälpen. Just like pregnancy and birth breastfeeding is a journey. For some it will be effortless and work great from the start. But for most parents and new babies this is not the case and it will take time, work and heaps of patience.
It’s amazing if you can have a support system during your first weeks to do everything so you can focus on breastfeeding and resting. This support system can be your family, partner or a postpartum doula. My suggestion is to plan for this ahead of time. People want to help new parents, and giving people specific tasks beforehand is very useful. Ask people to fill your freezer with food or have a cleaning schedule. If you have older siblings arrange for your support system to take care of them as much as possible in the first couple of weeks after baby is born.
Give it time! A lot of the people I meet that feel that their breastfeeding journey was unsuccessful and ended prematurely lacked knowledge, support and patience to make it work. Breastfeeding is incredibly hard work, at times it’s very painful (it shouldn’t be, if it is the latch is incorrect and you need help to correct that) and time consuming. But if you get it to work over time you’ll see that it can be effortless. You always have your baby’s food ready at the right temperature and at the right amount for your baby.
Decide beforehand that you will stick with breastfeeding even when it is hard. Sometimes you need the right mindset to make it work, you can do it!
One of my personal favorite websites for breastfeeding is babybaby.se it is a Swedish website with a great amount of written information including pictures as well as videos. I use this website a lot when I need to refresh my mind when it comes to different things that have to do with breastfeeding, it can be anything from how to hand express milk to the different stages babies go through during development and how it affects their eating patterns. I will leave the link in the description box.
What are some of the things you did to prepare for breastfeeding?
