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The journey into motherhood, especially the first time around, is filled with new experiences. Pregnancy and childbirth invite us to get to know our bodies, the unique power, and to feed our babies from our own bodies, making this an intriguing and profound experience. It’s normal to have fears or feel nervous about breastfeeding your baby, but if you can welcome it with curiosity and a willingness to learn, your breastfeeding journey can be a very beautiful chapter of your motherhood journey.
Breastfeeding Confidence: Trusting Your Body and Baby
When I speak with a mom during the prenatal period, she very often describes a desire to breastfeed her baby “if it works out”. Many of us find it difficult to trust that our bodies are capable of providing our babies with everything they need. I’d like to point out the fact that, if you are growing a baby, you already are! And if your body is capable of growing your baby, I trust it implicitly to provide that baby with exactly what they need once they are born. Even if you are still asking yourself, "Can I breastfeed?". The fact that breastfeeding is unlike any other experience we’ve ever encountered up to that point makes it difficult to predict how it will go and how we will feel about it. Breastfeeding is no different than any other beautiful, mysterious, remarkable thing in nature.
How Your Body Prepares for Breastfeeding During Pregnancy
Making Colostrum
As you enter your second trimester, both you and your baby are preparing for your feeding journey. Your body is beginning to make colostrum to provide your baby with nutrient-dense liquid gold the moment they arrive. Understanding why breast milk matters can help you appreciate this "liquid gold" and the incredible immune protection it offers from day one.
Baby Sucking Muscle Development
Your baby is developing the muscles they need to suckle and feed effectively. Both of your bodies are equipped quite early on for breastfeeding. Putting the two together might take a bit of work at first, but you can trust the fact that your bodies know exactly what to do. To support this physical transition, having the right breastfeeding essentials for new moms on hand can make those early attempts much more manageable and comfortable.
Common Latching Concerns and How to Solve Them
What if it hurts? That’s another one I hear often, and it’s a relevant concern too! Painful feeding is not normal, but it is common. It lets us know two things:
- Baby is working harder than they should to get your milk.
- Your body will have a harder time establishing your milk supply to meet your baby's needs.
As I said, this is common, and it gives us helpful information about what ever needs to happen next. Painful latching and feeding mean we need to dig a little bit deeper to fix the problem and get you on track for a feeding journey. That is comfortable and efficient for both you and your baby. Don’t hesitate to call an IBCLC right away, as a pinch of prevention outweighs a pound of repair.
Learning Breastfeeding Skills with Your Baby
Learning to latch is something you and your baby will do together. You can’t expect yourself to know how to do something you’ve never done before, and the same is true for your baby. It’s important to have loads of grace and patience while the two of you figure this out together. Lean on your partner or support people to help facilitate a successful feeding journey. Let them take care of you, so you can take care of feeding your baby. No “shoulds” either - take things one feeding at a time, knowing that you’re both doing your best exactly as you are in that moment.
Building Confidence in Your Breastfeeding Journey
However you welcome your baby into this world, you have to trust. Once they are here, you must continue to trust. Trust your baby’s instincts to show you what they need. Trust yourself to do the very best you can in each moment. Trust your friends, family, and other caring people around you to make sure everything else is taken care of, freeing you up for postpartum healing and successful feeding. You have been transformed into the mother that you are. Focus on getting to know yourself as a mother and getting to know your baby, in sticky moments and smooth ones. You’re already doing better than you think!
