Author: B. Jody Segrave-Daly, RN, IBCLC

Why Were My 35 Week Premature Twins Fed More on Their First Day of Life Than my Full Term Breastfed Baby

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I have three beautiful children: one nearly three year old boy, and one set of boy/girl twins, who are just three weeks old. If I could go back and change my eldest son’s first feeding  experiences on this earth, I would. I would have been happier and my baby healthier if he had just been fed while attempting to exclusively breastfeed.

When I was pregnant with my eldest boy, I fully intended to breastfeed him. We were delivering in a Baby-Friendly Hospital. I had never heard the term “Baby-Friendly” before becoming pregnant, but when my husband and I attended the hospital tour, we were told that the Baby-Friendly label meant that the hospital had achieved what was considered the gold standard in breastfeeding support. We attended the available lactation, birth, and parenting courses at the hospital. Whenever I was asked if I was planning to breastfeed my son, I proudly said, yes, I would. I was 34 years old, and I had never really considered infant feeding practices before becoming pregnant. From the information presented, it was obvious that breastfeeding was optimal.

I was told that babies did not need very much food in the first days of life. I was told that I would always make enough to feed the baby. I believed that the information I was receiving in these courses was truly the gold standard.

My son was born naturally after an unmedicated labor. He was placed on my bare chest, latched and I was told that we were doing great. I would nurse him and then he started screaming after each nursing session. Later, I learned that newborns aren’t meant to continuously scream after attempting to feed. They are meant to be satisfied and then sleep. The crying and screaming means something is wrong. I did not realize that my colostrum might not be enough to keep him fully fed before my milk came in. If I was informed that different babies have different caloric requirements at birth, and that my colostrum might not be enough right away, I never would have consented to not feeding my newborn for any period of time.  Continue reading →

I May Never Forgive The Hospital For Starving My Baby While Under Their Care!

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On Easter morning, I gave birth to a perfect 7 lb 15 oz little girl named Coraline Quinn. Cora started life as the world’s happiest little baby. She almost never cried and just wanted to snuggle more than anything in the world.

However, our first visit with one of the lactation consultants immediately had me scratching my head. The lactation consultant reassured me that nobody would attempt to “sabotage my breastfeeding” in their facility, unlike others. Then they helped me get her to latch, said that we were doing great and that she was getting enough to eat. 24 hours later, she was a fussy mess that was inconsolable unless she was being held. We fed a ton, but she’d get frustrated and break the latch to cry every 3-4 swallows. Lactation was consulted again, and they reassured me that everything was fine and that these were standard findings for the second day and I continued feeding as instructed. Continue reading →

I Was Having Suicidal Thoughts Because I Was Shamed For Not Making Enough Breast Milk For My Baby

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I gave birth in a hospital in Tel Aviv,  Israel.  I struggled with breastfeeding from the  moment I gave birth but the lactation consultant told me ‘it’s okay, your milk will come in a few days.  I went home and continued to breastfed all of the time, waiting for my milk to come in.

#3 Making Sure Your Newborn is Fed.pptx (5)

After days and nights, 18-20 hours on the couch breastfeeding, I called a lactation consultant. She assured me that I have milk and all was great; this is just how it is and breastfeeding is hard work. She was really nice and positive about my milk supply and didn’t push me to exclusively breastfeed, but the moms I talked with did.  I joined breastfeeding clubs, I read blogs and stories of moms who breastfeed their 2-3 year old children without a problem.  I became more and more tired, I cried all the time and I stopped taking showers daily. I couldn’t look at my baby, I had constant pain and he cried all the time. I slept a maximum of 30 minutes each day.  I felt like my body and my life was taken from me. Continue reading →

My Baby Had Been Slowly Starving – The Guidelines For Exclusive Breastfeeding Were Wrong

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Written by Hillary Kuzdeba, MPH

Before I had my first baby, I was like so many other health professionals – I believed that breast was best, and that every mother should be encouraged to strive for exclusivity, as recommended by the major medical organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics and World Health Organization. I prepared diligently for breastfeeding, speaking to lactation consultant co-workers, watching documentaries, reviewing breastfeeding educational resources, and talking with the breastfeeding mothers I knew. My husband and family were all extremely supportive of breastfeeding, because they too knew breast was best. I knew that breastfeeding could be challenging, but I was prepared to make it work. And everyone assured me that it would, as long as I was dedicated.

My daughter was born at 37 weeks, 2 days after a difficult unmedicated labor, and vaginal delivery. She was a tiny little thing, just over 6lbs but she was strong and healthy. She was born with moderate cranial bruising from the almost six hours of pushing it took to get her out. She was immediately put skin to skin, and we had our first nursing session within 20 minutes of her arrival.

Due to her early term status and her bruise, we were told she was at risk for jaundice. (hyperbilirubinemia) While they told us that they would be watching her bilirubin levels closely, and were encouraged to attend the hospital’s breastfeeding class, we were allowed and encouraged to continue with our original plan of exclusive nursing. Despite my high level of breastfeeding education, I had never learned about this condition, and I didn’t know that it can be greatly exacerbated or triggered by dehydration. I had never been educated on starvation related complications, and only knew that occasionally some babies lost too much weight due to milk supply problems. I had heard of jaundice, but everything I had read indicated that it was “common” in breastfed babies and nothing to worry about in most cases. Regardless, my great care team didn’t seem to be concerned enough to recommend a change in feeding plan, so we just continued with our original plans as if she was like any other baby. Continue reading →

What Should Be The Norm For All: I Was Supported in Supplementing My Twins With Formula

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by Kimberly Cartwright

My story is unremarkable but important to tell, because we are often led to believe that it should be remarkably rare.

In 2013 I had my first child, a son.  I researched and knew I wanted to breastfeed him, as breast milk is the recommended food for babies.  There are so many benefits to baby and mother if you nurse, so of course I wanted to try it out.   I have to admit that was a big push to learn all about it and make it work; and we did make breastfeeding work for fourteen months.  Then in 2016 I had my second and third children, my twin daughters.  I knew I wanted to breastfeed again.  The cost benefit for me personally was huge, especially for two babies.  But nursing two babies at once–that’s a lot!  There are a lot of reasons breastfeeding doesn’t work, and you double those when there are two babies.  I was determined to do my best though.

My girls were born at 36 and a half weeks.  Early by the forty week schedule, but basically on time for twins.  (Full term for twins is considered 37 weeks.)  They were right on target for identicals.  I was worried they wouldn’t be able to latch or just wouldn’t nurse well.  Imagine my relief when shortly after both girls were born, they both latched right on and were nursing away.  They knew what to do and we didn’t have any problems.  The only issue was with their blood sugar.  They were still a bit early and of course small.  As per the protocol of the hospital I was at, the girls had to have their blood sugar checked with every feed.  They did pretty well, but their numbers weren’t as high as the doctors and nurses would have liked.  The nurses offered me a simple solution–after I nursed we were to give the girls supplemental formula.  It can take a few days for a mother’s milk to come in.  Yes, my girls were getting colostrum, but we were concerned that I wasn’t able to provide enough in terms of volume for two babies. For the two days we were in the hospital we offered enough formula after each nursing session to keep their blood sugar levels normal and safe.  Once we got the girls home my milk came in. Fast forward thirteen months later and we are still nursing. Continue reading →