With the advantage of the Internet, and then Instagram, there has been an increase in the number of experts who share their knowledge online. As a result, it has never been easier to get information and education. Despite this fact, breastfeeding has somehow remained in the “corner” because it is “natural”, so why even invest in basic knowledge when it will just come. Personally, I didn’t invest time in education about breastfeeding either because I thought it would come and I would give in to it.
The following happened. It didn’t go according to plan, it wasn’t easy, neither mentally nor physically, and no, it didn’t come naturally to me. I often talk about it on my @thesoulletters.hr instagram, but I will introduce you to the story. So, after my birth, my daughter stayed in the incubator and I stayed in the midwife’s room. I was told I was betraying myself and I was. I pulled and printed, while crying. Already tomorrow I had sores, and the next day ragade. I expressed manually and tried to extract as much colostrum as possible.
To this day, I remember the feeling of pride, after I nursed all night and managed to express 50 ml. I took my baby to the nurse’s room and saw that the colostrum was going into the already prepared bottle of complementary feeding. I also remember the disappointment then. At the time, I didn’t even know the size of the baby’s tummy. But I knew it wasn’t right. I also remember that I tried to repair the damage by myself, with a lot of pain and crying. I remember my roommate who was struggling to take care of her baby after a caesarean section and was breastfeeding with little hats, remarking that “what kind of nipples you have, I doubt you will ever breastfeed”.
The beginning of breastfeeding and the maternity ward are often a whirlwind of emotions, problems and a place where we rarely find people willing to help with the education of new mothers, which is due to overload, fatigue, long shifts and a lack of knowledge about breastfeeding itself. I have the utmost respect for the staff of our maternity hospitals and refuse to believe that the “culprit” is a lack of empathy rather than simply being overwhelmed. You can get there with your own education, preparation and searching for free content on social networks of certified breastfeeding counselors.
