Breastfeeding Talk...

I was suppose to be a guest of a Philips Avent Breastfeeding Talk. However, I needed to bring my little girl to the clinic so I missed the talk. It's so sad I did not get to talk to mothers to be and encourage them to breastfeed.

Jessica from Philips Avent read the script which I prepared early. It was meant as a guide to scope up what I was to say. After going home, I re-scoped the script... So here it is:

Hi everyone, it’s great to see so many mothers with their husbands in tow today! I remember when I was pregnant, I also wanted to attend breastfeeding talks. When I asked my husband to go with me, he was reluctant and replied "Huh? Go for this kind of talk for what?". It’s this same sentiment that makes most hubbies think: “My wife has decided to breastfeed. I do not need to do anything isn’t it? I cannot help nor teach her how to do it!” This is not true. There are many things that husbands can help!

Thinking back, I would not have survived the breastfeeding journey without my husband's support and encouragement. Let me give you some examples.

About 3 weeks into breastfeeding, I came down with high fever and chills at about 11pm. My breast was painful to touch, there were rock hard and I could not express any milk out. My confinement lady was most ridiculous, she called my mother in law to complain about how naughty I was and see now I got “zhou yue feng”! And for that I will have to drink a glass of alcohol every meal to get rid of the wind! My husband spent the entire night doing his research online and called the lactation consultant for help. I woke up at about 4am to find a note on the toilet mirror with steps of what I should do to clear the blockage that was causing the breast infection. He also defended me and told my confinement lady and mother in law that I had breast infection and not ZHOU YUE FENG!

After my confinement lady left, I had to care for my baby on my own. About 2 months into breastfeeding, I told my hubby that I wanted to stop. He told me "You are doing so well breastfeeding. Your supply is also not a problem. You agree that breastfeeding is good for our daughter, don't you think it is a waste to stop now after struggling so hard?" These little words of encouragement and reminder were all it took for me to continue. And to show his support for me, he would help me wash the bottles used to store my expressed breast milk. To make sure I had adequate rest, he also started to take over the night shifts. Time just flew by and my girl is already close to 9mths old!

Just in case the hubby think there’s only hard work, there is one that’s not too hard! You can help your wife massage her breast just before breastfeeding. Is that good or what??? J
The breastfeeding journey is different for every new mother. For me, I believe in the power of Mother Nature. She will definitely equip women with the ability to provide for the child. So, to me breastfeeding is a confidence trick. I believe I can, SO I will be able to do it! Prepare yourself mentally and believe that you can! Other than confidence, garner and surround yourself with people who will support your decision to breastfeed.

Supporters will deflect the "Boo-s" that come along the way! During my confinement, I would practise how to latch my baby. While I was doing that, my confinement lady would always come over and say: “Aiyoh Baby ke lian lar, ni de nai tou duan nar li xi de dao”. It was true that I had short nipples but her constant chatter was a contributing factor to why I eventually gave up latching my girl. To prevent her from eroding my confidence, I decided to pump exclusively. My hubby supported the decision and I never look back since!
During the early days, an experienced breastfeeding friend became my hotline to burning questions about breastfeeding. Other telephone numbers that you can have on hand includes the BMSG hotline and lactation consultants’ numbers. Remember that you are never alone in this journey!

I used to joke to my friends that I am a worry wart when it came to breastfeeding. I first started off with: "Will I ever have milk?" then it went to "Will I have enough for my baby?". When my supply was stable, I had a new worry "Is my milk good enough for my baby and is there anything I should do to make my milk quality better?" When it was time to return to work, I worried whether I will be able to pump in office...

My milk supply came on day 4. I thought this was slow until I heard that my neighbour's came only 10 days after the birth of her boy. My initial supply of milk was low (20ml), just enough for my little girl. I remember the theory of demand = Supply. So I pumped as often as my baby would drink. In your case, you should let my baby latch when she's hungry. The body will slowly but surely adjust till your baby has enough. I also did my research and found that nutrients in the breast milk are more or less constant. Hence there is no need to worry about quality! :)
I have returned to work for close to 5 months now and my little girl is still fully on breast milk. I was lucky to have bosses who were supportive of my decision to continue breastfeeding. However, a friend of mine was not so lucky. Like me, she did approach her bosses before Maternity Leave and the bosses were ok for her to express milk. After returning to work, the bosses became unhappy that she left her desk for about 1/2 hr to express milk and subsequently go for an hr's lunch break. She even got a warning email saying that she had gone against the company's HR practises! This is an important lesson!

Hence, you should discuss this with the bosses even before you go on maternity leave (e.g. during ur 3rd trimester). Discussion can include, when (e.g. is it during lunch, will 1/2 hr away from desk be acceptable?) and where will be a good time for you to express your breastmilk. Upon reaching an agreement, you can put it down in email so that there won't be disputes going forward.

How many times should I be pumping? From my personal experience, I arranged my pump times so I will only be pumping twice (once at 12 noon and at 3pm) during work hours. The 12 noon expression will coincide with lunch hour while the 3pm one would be during working hours. By pumping only once during official hours will seem more acceptable to most employers. There were of course occasions where I missed the 3pm expression! Remember that being held up by work is inevitable. The best you can do is to bear with the engorgement, finish up the work and quickly express out the milk!

And yes! Remember to inform your bosses on your first day back at work, what time you are expressing and whether you can be excused for 1/2 hr should meetings/discussions coincide with your expression time. :)

I remember frowning over which pump I should get. I would recommend one that is easy to operate and suits your needs. Some criteria which you would like to consider includes: size and weight of the pump (this is especially important if you are ferrying the pump to and fro), do you want manual or electric operation?, how comfortable would the breast pump be?,how easy is it to use?

Most of us may have heard of how difficult it is to use a manual breast pump. From my personal experience, I think a manual pump is not tedious and my yield can be higher than using an electric pump. Importantly, you will want to learn how to use the pump properly. Everyone is different so it is best if you can try or see how the breastpump works before making the purchase. Pumping exclusively is not an easy job. I would encourage you to latch as far as possible and only pump exclusively to feed your little ones if you are really left with no choice.

Remember that the key to successful breastfeeding is made up of 3 Ps and 1 S - persistence, perseverance, patience and Support. I hope all of you will decide to breastfeed and continue to breastfeed after returning to work!