Breastfeeding Myths - Keep Britain Breastfeeding 2013

Hands up if you have ever heard any of these:

If you are ill, you will pass it on through your breastmilk.
You have to have a perfect diet to breastfeed.
Small breasts are no good for breastfeeding.
Breastfeeding ruins your breasts.
If you breastfeed, you'll have no idea whether your baby is eating enough.
If your baby is nursing frequently, then you don't have enough milk.
Your baby is just comfort sucking/using you as a dummy.
You can't exclusively breastfeed twins/triplets. 
Feed your baby every 4 hours/for 10 minutes each side.
Big babies/small babies need formula top ups.
He should be sleeping through the night now.


These are common beliefs about breastfeeding, but each of them is a myth or misconception. Some come from lack of education on breastfeeding or normal baby feeding behaviour; others have been perpetuated by formula companies in the bid to "booby-trap" mums into giving up breastfeeding.

So, I shall tackle each of these myths, revealing the truth, and attempting to give you some great comebacks to uneducated comments from those around you.

Breastfeeding Beyond a Year - Keep Britain Breastfeeding 2013

 "Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended up to 6 months of age, with continued breastfeeding along with appropriate complementary foods up to two years of age or beyond." World Health Organisation

I wrote the following for my 22 month old daughter, who still loves her be-boos!

Breastmilk Pumping - Keep Britain Breastfeeding 2013

I haven't used my breast pump for about 16 months now. 

The first 6 months of B's life were highly stressful. When I wasn't breastfeeding her or administering a top up of formula, I was expressing in order to give her a top up of my own milk each day, and in the hopes of increasing my supply. 

I was lucky if I got 40-60mls over the course of 24 hours, but I dutifully gave it to her each evening.

I was so proud of myself the morning I pumped 1.5oz in one go because I woke up before B!

A Few Breastfeeding Memories - Keep Britain Breastfeeding 2013

I have heard others talk of their negative experiences of breastfeeding in public - dirty looks, snide comments, being told to leave or feed baby in the toilets - but personally, every one of my nursing in public experiences has been positive. Perhaps I have been lucky, or maybe I just have a f**k-off look on my face! I wouldn't say I'm extremely discrete, but I always wear a vest under my top, so that I can pull one top up and the other down, showing as little breast as possible. I don't think it matters whether one pulls the top up or yanks the breast out, but I personally feel more comfortable keeping my bosoms more covered. We are protected by the Equality Act 2010 when breastfeeding in public anyway, so if anyone has a problem with you nursing in public, then it is their problem and not yours, and you are free to complain about them. Check out this info sheet for more advice.

Even princesses need their milk

There are a few humorous moments that have occurred during our breastfeeding journey. The first I remember was when B was about 5 weeks old and pulled off to smile at me. I managed to capture a photo of her lovely grin and sent it to my mum. As I was about to upload it to Facebook, I realised that my nipple was standing proud in the bottom corner of the picture, so I stopped the upload until I had time to crop it out. A few minutes later, whilst looking through my Facebook newsfeed, I saw my photograph, complete with nipple! My sister had posted it, not having noticed herself. Fortunately, she was quick to remove and crop when I pointed out the problem.

Keep Britain Breastfeeding 2013: The Importance of Breastfeeding Support

Despite 81% of women in the UK initiating breastfeeding, by 6-8 weeks after birth only 45% of those continue to breastfeed, and only 17% are exclusively breastfeeding at 3 months post-partum.¹ Clearly women are meeting supposedly insurmountable obstacles to continuing to breastfeed. An NCT spokeswoman, quoted in this article, revealed that 90% of women who stopped, didn't want to.

I did a brief survey of my Facebook friends. Of those who responded, the majority of those who stopped breastfeeding did so because of the lack of support they were given. Some stopped because they had been fed myths about breastfeeding and, without proper support around them, they doubted their bodies' abilities to nourish their babies. And those who continued did so because of the support they seemingly had to hunt down, and through sheer stubbornheadedness. Most of this support came in the form of volunteers and peer supporters, not from midwives and health visitors! And also from husbands, family and friends.

Top Breastfeeding Tips For Dads: Keep Britain Breastfeeding 2013

Today, a guest post from my husband, Chris, who is my biggest breastfeeding supporter! He wrote a post for the Scavenger Hunt last year too, which you can find here.

When our first daughter was born, we discovered things weren't quite right in the feeding department.

B's weight dropped quite a bit in the first few days and we were checked into the hospital as her sodium levels were low.

After 4 days of wasted time, we got discharged and B was diagnosed with tongue tie (http://milkmatters.org.uk/2011/04/15/hidden-cause-of-feeding-problems-however-you-feed-your-baby/) and had it snipped.

We also discovered that my wife had IGT (insufficient glandular tissue) which meant that she couldn't produce enough milk.

So, we had to supplement with formula milk.

In summary, I've experienced breast feeding and formula feeding; both the positives and the negatives.

So, because of my experience, here are some top tips and some how-tos that I wish I had known before I started my journey into the world of infant feeding...

Keep Britain Breastfeeding 2013: Why I Continue to Breastfeed

As I sat down to write this, daddy and toddler had a bit of an accident. They were tearing around the house, pretending to be lions, and B tripped and fell. She landed on her face, cutting both her lips. Blood and tears and snot were pouring down her face; her wails filled the room. But, within 30 seconds, she was sat on my lap having some mummy-milk, or "be-boos" as she calls it. The tears stopped, the sobbing quietened and she was fine before 5 minutes were up. It is situations like this that make me so glad that after all our feeding troubles, and the need to supplement B with formula because of my IGT, I chose to continue breastfeeding. ¹

Last year, for the Scavenger Hunt, I wrote about Why I Breastfeed. And you can read about our first year here. This year I've decided to focus on why I, and others, continue(d) to breastfeed, and what we look back on as the top benefits of breastfeeding.

Keep Britain Breastfeeding 2013

British National Breastfeeding Week is running from 23rd-29th June 2013. You might remember that last year I was involved in the Keep Britain Breastfeeding Scavenger Hunt, and I will be involved again this year. Whether you are a parent-to-be, a new mum or dad, a student nurse or midwife, someone with an interest in breastfeeding, or someone who just chanced upon this blog, it's worth getting involved. There will be loads of interesting and informative posts, and plenty of fantastic prizes up for grabs.

Check out the Scavenger Hunt site to find out more about how to get involved, whether as a blogger or company, or to enter the competition.

You can also find my posts from last year here:
Why I Breastfeed
Mother to Mother Sharing
For the Dads
After the 1st Month

Posts this year will include the following topics:
The Benefits of Breastfeeding; Top Breastfeeding Tips You Should All Know; Positive Nursing In Public Experiences & Funny Breastfeeding Memories; Breastfeeding Beyond a Year and more!

Keep Britain Breastfeeding 4 - After the 1st Month

This is my fourth post in the Keep Britain Breastfeeding Scavenger Hunt in the run up to National Breastfeeding Week 2012. If you've missed my previous posts, you can find them here:

Why I Breastfeed 

Mother to Mother Sharing 

For the Dads

This week's theme is breastfeeding beyond the first month. I thought I'd write about a few of the obstacles we faced after the first month.

"Overall, only 35 per cent of UK babies are being exclusively breastfed at one week, 21 per cent at six weeks, 7 per cent at four months and 3 per cent at five months." (UNICEF)

Far from being the massive pressure group they are often accused of being, women who breastfeed after the first month are in the minority. So, it can be difficult to find out the truth about obstacles you might face as you progress along your breastfeeding journey. Myths abound; horror stories are plentiful; doubt and worry sets in. We hear about hungry babies, who hit 4 months and threaten to consume their mothers. We discover that growth spurts keep on coming, and get longer and tougher. We are told that after 6 months breastmilk loses all its goodness and babies need extra iron. How do we sort the fact from the fiction when it's hard to find women we know who have fed past a certain point?

How Dads Can Support Breastfeeding - Keep Britain Breastfeeding 3

This is the 3rd post as part of the Keep Britain Breastfeeding Scavenger Hunt in the run up to National Breastfeeding Week 2012. This week's theme is support, so I asked one of my greatest supporters to guest post. So, without further ado, I hand over to my husband, Chris, who will spill the beans on ways to support your partner in establishing breastfeeding:

I've been asked to do a guest post as part of the Keep Britain Breastfeeding Scavenger Hunt. I'm a father of one darling daughter, B, (DD in the mummy online speak) and have been in the profession for nearly 10 months and wow, what an amazing time it's been. My wife, Laura, and I had been married for 1 and a half years before B came along which has also been an amazing time, with more fun times to come.

So...breastfeeding. During her pregnancy, Laura and I had been discussing how we were going to care for our baby and how we were going to feed her, which really helped flush out any issues that could have come up post-arrival. Laura had been breastfed until she was 2 years old and I was breastfed until I was I few weeks old. Laura's mum had lots of support from La Leche League. My mum didn't. Support is key in enabling a mum to establish breastfeeding.

There are so many techniques, books, strategies out there that people follow to bring up their child. Some more than others. But we decided that we would breastfeed B. Well, Laura would. And herein lies the reason for writing this guest post:

How can we support our partners to establish and continue breastfeeding?

Keep Britain Breastfeeding 2 - Mother to Mother Sharing

This post is part of the Keep Britain Breastfeeding Scavenger Hunt in the run up to National Breastfeeding Week 2012. This week's theme is mum-to-mum sharing. I asked several of my friends and family who have breastfed their children, or still are, for their experiences and tips. Here are their responses:

1) What was one thing you wish you had known about breastfeeding before you started?

• Even though you can't see how much your baby is having, it will be enough if you keep going. 
• I wish that I'd known it was normal for babies to feed frequently - every 30 minutes sometimes! 
• I wish I'd been prepared to be made to feel bad about breastfeeding by friends and family who hadn't breastfed their babies. They either tried to convince me that F wasn't getting enough, or that I was making them feel guilty because they hadn't been able to breastfeed, or that I was depriving them of time with F. Really!
• That it could be so easy, cheap, nutritious, bonding, and a very special feeling that lasts all your life! (I know it's not easy for everyone)
• That doctors and health visitors don't really know much about breastfeeding - it's not part of their training - and so they can give some very bad advice.

Keep Britain Breastfeeding - 1: Why I Breastfeed

DISCLAIMER: I am glad that formula exists - my girl would have starved without it. I believe that scientists who work to make it "closer to breastmilk" do care about babies and want them to be healthy, but the companies do seem to be solely profit-hunting. I am not judging women who choose not to breastfeed, though I admit that I struggle to understand why they don't.


Benefits of Breastfeeding
This week's theme is 'Benefits of Breastfeeding' which ought to be the easiest thing to write about. There are hundreds of benefits, but they're out there already for everyone to read at their leisure. Why should my repeating them be any better at spreading the word? So, I thought, how to make it more personal, more relevant? I asked myself the following - Why did I choose to breastfeed?

My Breastfeeding History

It's normal and natural

I grew up in a breastfeeding family, so to me it has always been normal. The slogan "Breast is Best" really bugs me. It's not best; it's normal and natural; anything else is substandard and unnatural. Hey, even Jesus was breastfed! That slogan is loved by the formula companies because it makes formula seem normal, and breastfeeding better. Who needs better, when normal will do? ¹ But, I digress. We're here to talk benefits of breastfeeding, not the disadvantages and risks of formula feeding, although they amount to the same thing. There are many risks involved in formula feeding.
My mum was a La Leche League counsellor. I have great memories of meeting with LLL families and playing with the other children while our mums sat chatting and nursing our siblings. And I remember going to women's houses and waiting while Mum helped them with feeding their tiny babies. It wasn't until I was a teenager that I really realised there was another way to feed a baby.

Keep Britain Breastfeeding - My Involvement

24th-30th June 2012 is National Breastfeeding Week.
Last year, the government funding for the National Breastfeeding Week was cut. Despite all the evidence of the benefits of breastfeeding, especially its ability to cut the risk of obesity and diabetes, the government decided that encouraging women to breastfeed, providing support and advice, and normalising breastfeeding was not as important as, say, spending extra money on the Olympics, or aircraft carriers that won't carry anything, or giving every school a copy of the Bible in a difficult to understand translation! (It's not the Bible I disapprove of, but the antiquated language.)
So, various groups and individuals took the initiative to run the week themselves, organising activities and fundraisers around the country to ensure the importance of breastfeeding was highlighted.
This year, one event is the Keep Britain Breastfeeding Scavenger Hunt. I will be involved in this, blogging once a week through June on different aspects of breastfeeding. There will be lots of blogs to read, and opportunities to win goodies.
If you want to join the hunt, or just want to find out more, click the pic:

Keep Britain Breastfeeding

Just a link to find out more about the Keep Britain Breastfeeding Scavenger Hunt:
http://boobiemilk.blogspot.co.uk/p/keep-britain-breastfeeding-scavenger.html