Good advice is few and far between, let’s try and change that.

Why am I telling you this? Christ knows, maybe because it’s something I have realised since having a baby, so to all three of my readers, enjoy.

The reason I wanted to start as a breastfeeding peer supporter was because since having Heidi and deciding to breastfeed I realised there is heaps of crappy, incorrect, contradictory advice. Yet we live in a society which states we should try and breastfeed then the support is removed when you take baby home! Originally I wanted to combi feed, I had this notion that it was only fair that Dan could ‘bond’ with Heidi the same way I could. What I soon realised was feeding Heidi myself was incredibly important to me which is something I hadn’t expected to change before I had her. On expressing my concerns to a lactation consultant about why I felt Dan was missing out she said “dads do bathtime”. This advice was BRILLIANT and a reminder that breastfeeding isn’t the only way to bond with your baby. As a side note if you’re reading this and are thinking I’m having a dig at any type of feeding I am not, if you have chosen to combi feed, bottle feed or breastfeed crack on, you do what suits you. It isn’t a one size fits all and it doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Personally after having Heidi I simply wanted to exclusively breastfeed. 

So the reason I am starting as a peer supporter is to learn the correct, evidenced based information so that I can help other women to achieve their breastfeeding goals. I think it is incredibly sad that some women feel they have to give up breastfeeding before they would have liked to and was it not for the lactation consultant I was fortunate enough to meet I am not sure I would have had the same success breastfeeding and I would have potentially jeopardised my own supply and made things difficult for myself through lack of knowledge. Also she gave me moral support when I felt like I was at my wits end and couldn’t do it any longer because I was having an off day. So if I can help one woman reach her goals with breastfeeding be it one week two weeks or one month to two years then I will be very happy and it will have been worthwhile…… I know right, just let me polish off my halo.