Melissa, a local mum, tells us about how she has found breastfeeding since the birth of her son James who is now 18 months.

Looking back, I didn’t really know a lot about breastfeeding when I was expecting James, except for that it was better for my baby and would help with bonding.

Since James’s birth, I have found out a lot more about the benefits of breastfeeding and I am really pleased I did it.

I am expecting my second baby soon and I am definitely going to breastfeed again!

I didn’t really know a lot compared to what I know now but I did talk about it with my Midwife. She was really helpful and told me about how to get breastfeeding started when James was born.

I had put in my birth plan that when James was born, I wanted him delivered onto my tummy, my midwife had talked with me about how having his skin next to mine as soon as possible after the birth would help to stimulate him to feed. I did this and within 30 minutes of being born James had his first feed.

The midwife helped me to get James in the right position for feeding and with latching him on.

In the early days he fed a lot but this settled down after 6 – 8 weeks. Initially, I was worried that he wasn’t getting enough milk, but he quickly started to put on weight and I felt reassured that he was doing well.

Breastfeeding really comforted James and I think that it really helped us bond. I was happy knowing that James was getting all of the benefits and the more I found out about how good it was, the longer I wanted to continue.

Originally I had planned to feed for the first six months but it was going so well and I found it so easy and convenient, I decided that I would continue until James decided that he had had enough.

In fact, I’m still feeding him now!

When James was getting his teeth, he bit me once and this made my nipple sore for a couple of days so I expressed from the sore side and fed him from the other. He was teething at the time and I think this was why he did it. Now he has 12 teeth and they do not cause any problems at all.

The Midwives in the hospital were really helpful, in the delivery room and on the Postnatal Ward. They taught me and how to position and latch James on.

I felt confident by the time I came home and just fed him when he wanted it and it seemed to work out really well.

Later on I wanted to express some milk and I used a pump. After a bit of trial and error this was successful but soon after the Sure Start Midwife showed me how to hand express and I found this less hassle, as I did not have to clean and sterilise the pump.

Soon after James was born, my midwife told me about Felling Bosom Buddies Breastfeeding support group. I started going and found that it was really good. Especially if you had problems, often one of the peer supporters or other mothers had suggestions of what could help. I think that the support and information I got from the group played a big part in me deciding to Breastfeed for longer than I had originally planned.

Yes, definitely. I’m expecting my second baby soon and am going to breastfeed again. I’m also still feeding James, it’s more of a comfort thing with him now but I think that it is important to carry on feeding him for as long as he wants to, especially with the baby coming along as it will give him a lot of comfort at a time of big change in his life.

The Sure Start Midwife has told me a lot about feeding two children at once, it’s called Tandem Feeding and I’m feeling really positive about it!

Maybe some day I’ll tell you all about it!