Breastfeeding, where to start?!

Even if you can breastfeed, you won’t necessarily need a pump. I wouldn’t buy one without knowing how your breastfeeding journey is going because the right pump for you will be dependent on why you want to pump, when, how often etc and you most likely won’t know this yet. It’s also recommended not to pump for the first six weeks unless you have issues with breastfeeding, and if you do your local infant feeding team should be able to loan out a hospital grade pump to you x

Do you have a local breastfeeding group? They can support you! I'd wait and see on a pump though unless you see a really good deal. What I'd get are washable breast pads, comfy nursing bras and nipple cream. The hospital will offer help, and you should also be offered help with breastfeeding when you go home with the infant feeding team- take all the help you can get! And it's hard but rewarding. Don't expect the easy experience you see on TV or the movies, because there are definitely challenges, but the calorie burn makes eating all the cake on mat leave acceptable 🤣

@Taylor I don’t think this is a thing in the UK?

@Taylor Hi! Sorry I’m in the UK I don’t have health insurance etc. I’m glad you’re able to get something though! Thank you for the advice x

I’ve bought a hands free wearable pump - I’m due in Jan but figure even if I struggle with breastfeeding, I’ll want to pump at some point.

@Sophie This was so helpful thank you! I don’t have any mum friends etc locally so I didn’t know any of this! I was worried I was falling behind getting ready, I can relax now 😊

@Jade Hi! Umm I think my midwife mentioned to look online for one but I honestly forgot and haven’t done this! That’s really helpful thank you so much!! Hahaha I absolutely ate an entire cake last night so the more the better 😂😂

i didn’t need a pump until i started back at work! 9 months into breastfeeding now and this is what i’ve found helpful 👇🏻 - first 6 weeks try not to pump or express as your supply will be adjusting and you don’t want an over supply - let baby feed whenever but it’d be great for both of you if you can afford to see a lactation consultant, the midwives are trained but nothing like an actual consultant. i nearly gave up because of a bad latch and it being painful! - silvercups for your nips will be your saviour - side lying/feeding will also be your saviour! - also biggest one for me, remember you’ll have really hard days but it really is such a lovely thing to do!

Would people recommend still getting things like bottles and a steriliser? Or is that another hold off until after birth thing! Xx

@Georgia i got just 1 bottle, if you get the mam ones you can sterilise in the microwave

@Sara Hi! This is so helpful thank you so much! I really had no idea where to even start other than wanting to try breastfeeding and attempting not to put pressure on myself xx

Congratulations Georgia🎂🎉 I wish you all the best of luck with your newborn😍 You need to prepare for what you intend to feed your little one with. If your plan is to breastfeed without pumping, then you do not need one however if you wish to do both, you can ‘buy the hands free electric breast pump’. This makes it easier for you to move around the house whilst expressing. And in order to kinda prepare your breast ready to breastfeed, at 38weeks you can try to hand express into small syringes, ask your midwife about this and watch youtube videos if you have no clue on how. As little as 0.1ml could be expressed the first time and then you can get more the more you try. This can be fed to baby the first hours after birth whilst you might be recovering and find out if you can breastfeed or not.❤️ Storage: The breastmilk(colostrum) can be stored in freezer for upto 6months. Watch the video below: they might be able to answer some of your questions and provide tips

https://youtu.be/a8pTFnVZFQs?si=eQH-z2R-46WegAEC

I brought a few mam bottles and a manual pump before my baby was born. I am glad I did as my baby didn't take to breastfeeding so I expressed and gave her milk from a bottle from the start

@Georgia what I found helpful was finding my local breastfeeding support group. I actually went to one of their meetings while I was still pregnant, once I was on maternity leave, and continued to go once baby was born. It was really useful! I’d also recommend following some lactation consultants on social media, e.g. Lucy Webber and Olivia Hinge

@Taylor What you said is true about feeding or expressing every 2-3hours after delivery. This helps to establish breast milk production by your body and sustain its supply.

I will say don't let them discourage you saying you have to be able to do it before leaving the hospital. Not true. I struggled with two of my kids cause of learning. They didn't have any problems like tongue tie, etc. I had a baby that was just too small for nipple to mouth ratio. That I had to wait two weeks before trying again and she latched no problem. My son had some complications that landed back in the hospital after a week cause they never gave us a chance to learn. And after 4 months of pumping & formula supplement. I just one day attached him to me and he breastfeed like nothing until he was 2.... But all I am saying it's you & your baby take the time to learn together. Don't let them rush you. But a fed baby is the best baby

I’d wait. I spent a fortune on a good pump, and then it just didn’t work for me. I bf fine for a year, but could never pump more than 1oz and it just became too stressful.

I need a pump! I make so much milk my boobs ace pumping helps me so much!

I bought an electric pump and everything else but I haven’t actually used it yet. My baby is 3 months old and is EBF, I’ll probably pump when I go back to work so I don’t think I needed to rush to get a pump. My plan was to combi feed but I actually love breastfeeding so ended up not combi feeding. Not to say I loved it from the start though, we had a bad start to breastfeeding but once we had extra support we were fine. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. We were actually admitted back to the maternity ward when she was 3 days old because I was struggling with it and they gave me an extra 2 nights with more feeding support. If you decide you want to pump, you can get next day delivery with most websites so worst case you’ll have to wait a day for one to arrive if you need one. Sign up for boots parenting club, and get the Emma’s diary packs. You’ll get free Mam bottles with those so don’t need to waste any money then if you don’t end up using them xx

@Victoria Aguilar breastfeeding works on supply and demand - the more milk you remove, the more milk you will make. It’s normal to make a lot of milk in the first few weeks and if you’re painfully engorged it’s helpful to hand express just enough to remove the discomfort. Within a few weeks your supply will adjust to meet baby’s needs. If you continue to pump you will create an oversupply which will mean you need to continue to pump/pump more. If you don’t mind pumping and want to build up a freezer stash of milk then by all means keep going, but if it’s a hassle for you then you can break the cycle by gradually reducing how much/how often you pump.

I’d say go for the pump now because if you can’t breastfeed your baby due to latching reasons you can still give them breast milk in a bottle x

@sarah this is my thinking. I had a friend who wasn’t able to get her baby to latch and she said she wished someone had told her about getting a pump in advance so she didn’t just turn to formula immediately.

Breastfeeding my second child and I've never had a pump. If you do need one, Amazon prime can get it to you the next day, along with bottles etc so I wouldn't necessarily worry this early on x

@sarah in this case though the local infant feeding team should be able to provide a hospital grade pump on loan 😊

@Sophie I forgot to put that part haha the hospital one was a life saver for me until I had my own. I was allowed it while baby was under NICU but had to give it back once we were fully discharged x

Thank you everyone this has been so so helpful! I’m no longer stressing over finding things now and will wait to see how my body fairs 🥰

I found Olivia’s lactation consultant instagram account to be an incredibly useful source of breastfeeding information and education when I was feeding my LO. We had our struggles early on but ended up having a wonderful EBF journey for over a year so I’d definitely recommend you give her a follow: https://www.instagram.com/olivia_lactation_consultant?igsh=OXUyMXRmaHg2cWdu

A few friends recommended a book: the womanly art of breastfeeding by La leche league. I’m enjoying it!

I also read The womanly art of breastfeeding and I cannot recommend it enough!

Congratulations! I think it really depends on your lifestyle. If you will mostly be latching baby and not giving baby bottles of breastmilk… you really dont need much. I work from home so this is what I did. My husband gave baby one bottle a day of breastmilk with vitamin D. I collected milk while nursing using a haaka, so i never had to pump. I collected enough milk daily for a bottle + ~4-6oz to freeze for the rare occasions i wasn’t around baby to nurse. I would also focus on your nutrition as you think about stocking up. If you see any good deals on shelf stable nutritious snacks you like, grab em! Breastfeeding requires a lot of calories! Oh and get yourself a nice robe to lounge around. I never like bras in those early breastfeeding days but loved nursing camis.

I planned to breastfeed and pump so my husband could help with night feeds. I’m so glad I bought a pump before having my baby because he struggled to latch. If I’d had to work out what to buy and wait for delivery after getting back from the hospital it would have been a lot more stressful and maybe my milk supply wouldn’t have established. I have the momcozy v2 and would highly recommend it

The midwifes are ok, but the infant feeding team and lactation specialists are so much better when you get there. If you're planning on pumping and bottle feeding occasionally - make sure you do it regularly so baby doesn't just go off the bottles. You've got this mama 💓