What do you want your breastfeeding experience to be?…
Wow!! That's a huge question…once you've answered it I'd like to help you create the breastfeeding experience you truly desire. With support and commitment, like anything, it can be done.
I'd like to ask you a few questions to get you thinking about what may influence you in your feeding decisions…please take a few moments to really think about each question before you answer it.
• What do you believe are the benefits of breastfeeding? And How important are they to you?
• Were you breastfed? For how long?
• How do members of your family and friends feel about nursing?
• Have you seen anyone nurse a baby? toddler? What did you think of it?
• Have you already breastfed a baby? How was it? Was it painful? Did you enjoy it?
You see, your personal life experiences will shape the way you view breast milk and the value you place on it. And although you may have read or heard about its benefits, at the end of the day it's your beliefs and values that will determine how committed you are to nursing… no amount of pressure or medical research will sway that.
I personally used to think that nursing was gross, something that should be done in private, if at all. I had been told of all it's benefits, so when I had my first child I thought I'd give it a go...my attitude was if it worked, great and if not there was always formula. But once my baby and I learned how to nurse I began to cherish it. My passion for it and my desire to help others experience the joy it can bring grew.
I now do volunteer work with new and experienced mothers and I'm training to be a nursing counsellor. I find — sadly— that it's the everyday issues like breast infection, returning to work, and being pregnant while lactating,(amongst others) that can be enough to make people stop nursing and it doesn't have to be the case.
If you want to read relevant info that's inspirational and truthful, pick up some everyday practical tips, be supported through a specific nursing problem, make feeding decisions confidently and guilt free, or celebrate and share your joy, then I invite you to spend some time with me and discover the essence of breastfeeding.
