New moms share struggles, triumphs on breastfeeding journey

They say, ‘breast is best’ but it’s not always love at first latch. Sometimes, new moms find themselves latching onto many challenges during the nourishing journey.

As a midwife, Dannieth Pryce never imagined that after dealing with, counselling and treating mothers with post-partum depression, she’d experience the same difficulty. “Dealing with post-partum depression from the rough pregnancy had affected my ability to breastfeed. This also had an impact on my emotional and psychological well-being and I was unable to produce enough breast milk,” Pryce told Living.

Seeing the mothers that she had taught in the past grasp the information and the skills so quickly and successfully, that when she sent them home, the babies would be comfortably and exclusively breastfed, Pryce was excited and had all confidence that she would be able to practise what she was preaching and master the art of maternal nourishment.

The expected mother prepared herself mentally and physically for what she described as a wonderful experience. But the reality was far from what she envisioned.

“Though I had the knowledge, I still had to seek help. Luckily, prior to that, I had fully educated my husband on the signs and symptoms of the condition. And when I started to experience depression, he was the one who was able to identify them and pointed them out and accompanied me to go get help,” she added.

Pryce was not producing as much milk as she anticipated. From proper positioning to great latching technique, nothing worked. Her doctor shared that the sickness during pregnancy gravely affected her chances of production.

“I experienced sore nipples. But I expected that this would happen a few days after my baby’s birth. When it healed, still trying to successfully breastfeed my daughter was a challenge. I would still put her on the breast since I was producing, but not enough. So I had to give her supplemental feed,” she revealed.

This was also the case for Jody-Ann Ramsay. The first-time mother beamed with great pride when she gave birth to her daughter. But found the breastfeeding experience difficult from the very start.

“Try as I may to get her to latch, it was not happening. My nipples weren’t just sore; they would bleed as well. Because I wasn’t producing enough milk and my little one went in for as much as she could get,” she explained, noting, “I had to get a cream to soothe the pain.”

Feeding every two hours left Ramsay so fatigued that her boyfriend and the father of her child had step in to help with the breastfeeding experience. “He held me up, held the baby as I breastfed. Once I started pumping the milk, he would take the time to feed her. I can’t thank him enough for his support.”

By the time she got the hang of the technique, her daughter was moving on to formula. So her baby balanced the two, wearing herself off the breast milk. Despite the hiccup, she was grateful for that bonding experience. “I still think it happened too late for me. But I loved it!”

Both mothers had stopped producing breast milk months after giving birth.

According to Marceleen Jordine-Wheatle, regional health promotion and education officer at the Western Regional Health Authority, discomfort is in fact a common occurrence among new mothers who are breastfeeding

“A few mothers will experience initial discomfort when they start breastfeeding. But with adequate support and learning proper attachment and positioning of the baby to the breast will make breastfeeding a painless and memorable experience. I exclusively breastfed my son for the first six months of his life and would do it again,” she highlighted.

Although it is said that breast milk may not be enough for the baby, Jordine-Wheatle believes otherwise, “The more a mother allows the baby to suckle, the more milk the mother will produce. Allowing the baby to feed on demand is the best solution to this concern.”

Aside from the fact that breast milk provides complete nutrition for the first six months of an infant’s life, the health promotion and educational officer also revealed that breast milk protects against some infections.

“Colostrums is the first form of breast milk that is released after giving birth. It’s nutrient-dense and high in antibodies and antioxidants to build a newborn baby’s immune system. Colostrum is known as the first immunisation for the newborn. Babies who are exclusively breastfed have less episodes of diarrhoea, acute respiratory infection and skin conditions.”

The activity provided a close loving bond between mother and baby, “…and even decreases the risk of breast and ovarian cancers. It improved post-partum recovery, that is recovery after birth, and reduced iron loss.”

It is her and her team’s goal to continue to support the rights of all women in their decisions and will work with them to make fully informed choices.

krysta.anderson@gleanerjm.com