As a vegan mama, I’ve had two successful breastfeeding journeys and found great support along the way

I am now 12 months into breastfeeding my son, and it has been a successful second breastfeeding journey, and one I can’t see ending anytime soon. 

With my first child, I breastfed her until she was 18 months old. We only ended up stopping as I was pregnant with my son. It was just too painful to continue. Luckily she had already weaned in the day and at bedtime and it was just the night feeds I had to help her wean, and that was a smooth process.

My family and I are vegan

One of the reasons I feel so lucky to have experienced breastfeeding is because myself and my family are vegan, and there are no vegan baby formulas available to buy in the UK.

One of the reasons I feel so lucky to have experienced breastfeeding is because myself and my family are vegan, and there are no vegan baby formulas available to buy in the UK.

If I was unable to breastfeed I would have had to have given my children formula containing animal products, which is something I find just awful for vegan families. I hope that this soon changes so that other vegans who want to breastfeed but can’t, or choose not to, are not being put in a situation where they have to compromise their beliefs to feed their babies.

I find it unfathomable that it is 2022 there is no vegan formula available in the UK.

Accessing good support has been key

Fortunately for me, I was able to access good breastfeeding support early on with both my children and I think this was a big reason why I’ve had two successful journeys.

With my daughter, I had help from a breastfeeding peer support worker who came to my house before I had my daughter. They were also on hand on the phone and in person once my daughter was born, and this was all free of charge and offered to me through by the local midwifery team.

With my son I had amazing support in the hospital during my stay after having him. I had a very traumatic labour and birth, including back-to-back, a short nuchal chord, a retained placenta that required surgery and manual removal, and a blood transfusion as I lost a lot of blood immediately after the birth. I thought that all of this could have impacted the time it took for my milk to come in, but I was very lucky that this wasn’t the case.

However, it was a trickier start to feeding compared to my first breastfeeding journey. I instantly knew that something wasn’t right as my son wasn’t latching on well which made feeding very hard. It turned out he had a tongue tie but luckily this was corrected a day after he was born.

I instantly knew that something wasn’t right as my son wasn’t latching on well which made feeding very hard.

There have been challenges like mastitis

This time around I also got mastitis (when I never got with my daughter). It was just horrible, and very painful. I have great sympathy for anyone who experiences this more than once as it already feels hard enough having round-the-clock feeds and sleepless nights, let alone adding mastitis into the mix.

During these challenging times, I was so grateful to access free support. Online groups like the Bristol Breastfeeding Mummies Facebook group is such a valuable support network of people who are always so supportive and helpful. It feels like no matter what time you post on there, there’s always someone who will see your post and be on hand to help. I really hope that there are nationwide groups like this, as I know myself and fellow breastfeeding mum friends have all felt so supported by this network. 

Breastfeeding is a wonderful whirlwind and we all need support

To anyone starting out on their breastfeeding journey, or are pregnant and hoping to breastfeed, I hope you have access to all of the support you need. Don’t think twice about asking people for help – whether that’s bringing you water, getting you tasty treats to keep you going through those night feeds, or just being on hand to listen to anything you need to say. Breastfeeding is a wonderful whirlwind and something I’m so grateful to have been able to do it. 

Breastfeeding is a wonderful whirlwind and something I’m so grateful to have been able to do it. 

Before I had children I always wanted to breastfeed but I have to admit I never thought I’d get beyond a year, and perhaps not even that far. I had the mindset that I think a lot of people do, that once they could ask for milk, then surely they didn’t need breast milk? Oh, how I wish I could go back and tell my previous self how wrong I was thinking this, and how much you realise exactly the opposite once you have a child!

I am so proud to breastfeed and will do it anywhere and at any time my baby needs milk. I am also so passionate about supporting other mothers in their breastfeeding journey. I feel so lucky to have experienced breastfeeding as it is such an amazing journey. Whilst it can be very hard, exhausting, tiring and painful at times, it’s a journey I wouldn’t change for the world.

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