Sue's story: when breastfeeding advice makes all the difference
I was very lucky – breastfeeding my first daughter, Florence, was easy. It took her a while to get started as I had a long labour with an epidural, so she was more interested in sleeping than eating for the first day or two! But once she got started there was no stopping her and several of the midwives at the hospital commented on how perfectly she latched on. Florence gained weight quickly and was a very happy baby. We breastfed for about 16 months and in that time I never had any problems with sore nipples or pain when feeding.
When I became pregnant with my second daughter I knew that I wanted to breastfeed her. I read several breastfeeding books and thought that all this knowledge, combined with my previous experience, should make breastfeeding just as easy the second time around.
My youngest daughter Elizabeth, was born in 2007 after a quick, induced labour. She was very enthusiastic about breastfeeding right from the word go. She latched on straight away in the delivery room and fed regularly from then on. She always fed well and at her first weight check a few days after she was born, she had already gained weight. As far as she was concerned, breastfeeding was a wonderful success. I, on the other hand, was starting to suffer.
Elizabeth was born in the evening so I spent the night in hospital with her. I started suffering from sore nipples. I knew it shouldn’t hurt so I asked one of the midwives to give me some breastfeeding advice and see if there was anything that I was doing wrong. She watched me feed and we both checked to see that Elizabeth was latched on properly. Everything seemed fine – she wasn’t sucking on my nipple, her bottom lip was curled back and she was taking big gulps. Watching her though, it was obvious that she had a very strong suck and we decided that perhaps my nipples just needed to toughen up a bit!
During our first few days back at home though, breastfeeding became more and more painful. Elizabeth still seemed to be latched on well and I always sat upright with her laid on a cushion. I tried to position her carefully and couldn’t understand what could be wrong. I went through all my breastfeeding books and looked on the internet but couldn’t find anything that helped. However I did notice that when I finished feeding my nipple was squashed flat, and was starting to crack.
Latching on became incredibly painful and my breasts throbbed even when I wasn’t feeding. It was very upsetting as I had so wanted to breastfeed Elizabeth, just like I did her older sister. I continued to feed her though and decided to call our local NCT breastfeeding counsellor. She was such a great help. She spent a long time with me on the phone discussing what the problem could be. She suggested that as my daughter was small (she weighed 1lb 4oz less than Florence did when she was born) she probably had a much smaller mouth and this meant that she couldn’t get my nipple far enough into her mouth when she fed. My nipple was being squashed against the hard roof of her mouth, instead of the nice soft bit at the back of her mouth. That explained the flattened nipple! She gave me some breastfeeding advice for repositioning Elizabeth just slightly and also reassured me that she would grow quickly and that would help solve the problem.
The positioning tips worked brilliantly. Latching on was still very painful to start with - I knew that it was important to get Elizabeth latched on properly but it always took a huge amount of willpower to unlatch her and start again if it didn’t feel right. Once she was on though, I could already notice the difference. Within a couple of days, feeding became much easier and my nipples began to heal. By the time Elizabeth was a few weeks old, breastfeeding was the easy, enjoyable experience that I remembered from feeding Florence. She was happy and gaining weight, and I was happy and pain-free.
I eventually breast-fed Elizabeth for 18 happy months. The right help and support is vital for successful breastfeeding. You can read a lot, and even have done it before, but sometimes you just need someone to talk you through what you are doing and suggest something that maybe you hadn’t thought about. Problems during the first few weeks when you are feeling tired can seem difficult to overcome, but with the right breastfeeding advice it’s possible to sort out any initial problems so that you and your baby can breastfeed happily for many happy weeks and months to come.
Created: November 23, 2009
