It took me quite a long time to decide to breastfeed. I was mulling it over through my entire pregnancy, and if I could go back in time, would do it all over again. In my opinion it’s one of the most beautiful, natural things in the world and I remember that it made an instantaneous bond between me and my daughter. And let’s face it; you can’t get much more organic now, can you?

The advantages of breastfeeding:
• Reduces the risk of breast cancer
• It is easily expressed into a bottle if you would like someone else to feed the baby for whatever reason
• It’s cheap!
• Allegedly (and one of the points that I like to believe anyway) it aides weight loss.
• All of your immunities get passed to the baby through the breast milk
• Its on tap, so to speak, so you don’t have to worry about making a bottle up when the baby is hungry. Think of it as mummy’s draught.

Your milk comes through a few days after the baby is born, so until that time, your breasts produce colostrum, which is packed with all the nutrients that your baby needs until the milk decides to make an appearance. Unfortunately, your nipples can get very sore and I remember mine feeling like they were hanging on by a thread and at one point even bled (shudder) but there are creams that you can either buy or get off your midwife that help (I used Kamilosan). Alternatively your can get nipple shields…now I did give these a go, but felt too much like one of the fembots from Austin Powers so I gave those up.

I believe that one of the biggest factors that put a lot of women off the idea of breastfeeding is feeling awkward around other people. Just remember that it is perfectly natural and that all you are doing is feeding your baby. These people that make you feel like you’re doing something wrong would be the first to point a finger if you were mal-nourishing your child. With these narrow minded people that stare, try asking them if they would like you to attach a tassel to the free nipple and give it a shake for them. The predicted response is they will go away, never to stare at you again. Some shops and restaurants even have designated places for breastfeeding to be done (Ikea, nice one!). Personally, I am a notorious car park feeder, and for one reason or another seem to have breastfed in most car parks of shops etc, whilst in the car and very discreetly, just for the record.

Exclusive breastfeeding is recommended for the first 6 months and according to the powers that be, is all the baby needs in that time. The way I see it, how a mother decides to feed her baby is very personal, and only she knows her baby and its needs best. If you do decide to try breastfeeding and it doesn’t quite work out for you, then don’t beat yourself up about it. Some women simply cant, due to various problems (such as mastitis) or even just exhaustion, but I wish you all the very best of luck, whatever you decide.