What kind of support have you received?

[Elisianna]

I am curious about the support mothers receive and how it influences their choice to breastfeed. I would also be curious about support from caregivers in different areas.

So, what kind of support have you recieved? Both right after birth and currently? How long did you breastfeed/do you plan on breastfeeding?

I live in Alberta, Canada and is is how it has been for me:

In the hospital I was helped by so many people it was annoying but one nurse in particular thought I was great at breastfeeding and wanted to show me off to the other moms! There was never any mention of a bottle and though my milk didn't come in until the third or fourth day it was fine. We had to record feedings and they told me even a few drops of colostrum expressed by hand would count as a feeding. My baby gained back her birth weight in a week.

My mom breastfed 6 children (the last two were twins). Nearly all of us went for 1.5-2 years. She is obviously a wonderful support. She even encourages me to do things like nurse in public without a cover and to nurse as long as I would like.

My husband supports me 100% and is so proud of me for breastfeeding. He feels so thankful that his wife is able to give the best nutrition to his child.

My whole family thinks it is great. I never have gotten a negative comment from anyone. My brother and dad might look away when I take a boob out but my brother says things like "it is so amazing how healthy Lucie is. She is eating the healthiest food and most perfect food available to humans."

I plan on breastfeeding for as long as she is interested, though my upward limit is about 4 years old and I do plan on getting pregnant again when she is 1.5 years old.

I get angry when I read about how some women are badgered into giving up. (Not angry at the mothers, angry at the people who harassed them). I hate it when people say breastfeeding is disgusting or unnatural.

So, how is your experience?

 

[JenX]

Overall I have gotten pretty good support, though not as much as you have. There was a lactation consultant at the hospital who helped me immensely, both in the hospital right after birth, and in a couple of private consultations in the weeks after.

However, I had a c-section after two days of failed induction and was unable to keep my baby in the room all night because I couldn't get out of bed and my husband couldn't stay overnight with me. While they brought her to me for feeds, when they would bring her back to the nursery so I could rest, they sort of pressured me to let them top her up with formula, saying she wouldn't settle because the colostrum wasn't enough for her. I realize now this was probably not true. But in the end it did not stop me from going on to exclusively breastfeed her afterward, thankfully.

I have the support and encouragement of my husband 100%, and my mom as well. My in laws have never said anything to discourage me, but I get the impression they think it is a little weird.

As for ongoing support, I go every week to a breastfeeding group at the hospital that is led by the lactation consultants. It has been great and is the only place I have met other moms who breastfeed- I don't know any others outside of this group.

I have been breastfeeding for 3 months and plan to go on for as long as my baby wants to.

I was saying to my husband the other day how it seems like lactation consultants are really important right now because most moms who want to breastfeed do not have the support of mothers, aunts, or grandmothers in their family to pass on their breastfeeding knowledge- because most formula fed. I don't know if I could have made it this far without the help of LCs.

 

[aliss]

I got a lot of support with my 1st boy (Vancouver, Canada) but none of them could properly figure out the problem. Bless them, they did try. But in the end, it didn't work. I had many nurses trying to help, lactation consultants, many of them even came to my house and went and picked me up a dual pump.

With my 2nd (Montreal, Canada), I didn't need any help, I did it straight from day 1 without an issue. My OH talked me away from bottles on night 4 (nipple burning) but that's about it. There is a lot of support here if needed.

I think in Canada in general (aside from your occasional asshole) it is very supportive- 90%+ initiation rates. Few women choose formula from the start. I only know one person who did that, she was quite in the minority and most women here assume you are breastfeeding, the topic never even
comes up.

TBH Here in Canada, it's not really a choice much. I see threads from girls in the UK saying "what will you choose, bottle or breast?" and to me that is such a bizarre question. Such a question would never come up here in Quebec. Formula is for sick babies.

 

[Elisianna]

However, I had a c-section after two days of failed induction and was unable to keep my baby in the room all night because I couldn't get out of bed and my husband couldn't stay overnight with me. While they brought her to me for feeds, when they would bring her back to the nursery so I could rest, they sort of pressured me to let them top her up with formula, saying she wouldn't settle because the colostrum wasn't enough for her. I realize now this was probably not true. But in the end it did not stop me from going on to exclusively breastfeed her afterward, thankfully.

I also had an unplanned c-section! Two days after they started the induction I would not get past four cm! I was also having constant contractions and epidurals didn't work. Yay!

They did the same thing with me, keep Lucie away from me for the first night cause I couldn't move! They brought her in for feeds. I am so happy I was never pressured to top her up with formula. Though my mom told me constantly while I was pregnant that they might do that and to just ignore them. (She refused to supplement even her twins!)

 

[Elisianna]

I got a lot of support with my 1st boy (Vancouver, Canada) but none of them could properly figure out the problem. Bless them, they did try. But in the end, it didn't work. I had many nurses trying to help, lactation consultants, many of them even came to my house and went and picked me up a dual pump.

With my 2nd (Montreal, Canada), I didn't need any help, I did it straight from day 1 without an issue. My OH talked me away from bottles on night 4 (nipple burning) but that's about it. There is a lot of support here if needed.

I think in Canada in general (aside from your occasional asshole) it is very supportive- 90%+ initiation rates. Few women choose formula from the start. I only know one person who did that, she was quite in the minority and most women here assume you are breastfeeding, the topic never even
comes up.

TBH Here in Canada, it's not really a choice much. I see threads from girls in the UK saying "what will you choose, bottle or breast?" and to me that is such a bizarre question. Such a question would never come up here in Quebec. Formula is for sick babies.

Yup, I agree. They don't even talk about formula in childbirth classes. It's like it isn't really a viable option unless something really unfortunate happens. I know a girl with supply problems and instead of going on formula they have her on 50 pills a day (natural and prescription)

I don't know anyone who just chose to formula feed.

 

[JenX]

I got a lot of support with my 1st boy (Vancouver, Canada) but none of them could properly figure out the problem. Bless them, they did try. But in the end, it didn't work. I had many nurses trying to help, lactation consultants, many of them even came to my house and went and picked me up a dual pump.

With my 2nd (Montreal, Canada), I didn't need any help, I did it straight from day 1 without an issue. My OH talked me away from bottles on night 4 (nipple burning) but that's about it. There is a lot of support here if needed.

I think in Canada in general (aside from your occasional asshole) it is very supportive- 90%+ initiation rates. Few women choose formula from the start. I only know one person who did that, she was quite in the minority and most women here assume you are breastfeeding, the topic never even
comes up.

TBH Here in Canada, it's not really a choice much. I see threads from girls in the UK saying "what will you choose, bottle or breast?" and to me that is such a bizarre question. Such a question would never come up here in Quebec. Formula is for sick babies.

Yup, I agree. They don't even talk about formula in childbirth classes. It's like it isn't really a viable option unless something really unfortunate happens. I know a girl with supply problems and instead of going on formula they have her on 50 pills a day (natural and prescription)

I don't know anyone who just chose to formula feed.

I wish that was true here. But so many still choose formula for convenience sake and because it is the only way to feed they have ever seen or known personally. Of those who choose to breastfeed, many give up very early on, or when presented with a challenge. I know of one mom who quit when she got mastitis, as she was on antibiotics and told that she couldn't breastfeed while on them and she got burned out on pumping and dumping. But it is my understanding that doctors are supposed to prescribe antibiotics that are compatible with breastfeeding? Perhaps there are some gaps in knowledge of how to treat problems in breastfeeding moms by our doctors since so few moms breastfeed?