Ep1: When your family aren’t supportive of breastfeeding

For the first-ever episode of the boobingit podcast I get to interview my good friend Kerri about her breastfeeding journey. We talk about bonding over breastfeeding, the effect family support can have on our breastfeeding journey and why that final feed with your little one can be so bittersweet.

Lucky for us, back in 2016 we were both pregnant for the first time. We ended up giving birth within a month of each other and then breastfeeding our babies together! Kerri was a constant source of breastfeeding motivation and inspiration for me as she just seemed to take it all in her stride and do so well at it.

Little did I know she came from a formula feeding family and they didn’t really ‘get’ why she wanted to breastfeed. But what she lacked in family support when breastfeeding she made up for in her own stubbornness!

Thanks to her headstrong nature, Kerri kept her resolve and breastfed her son Ollie from the very beginning. She was even able to change the attitudes of her close family members, bringing them around to the benefits of breastfeeding! They seen how much Ollie was thriving and how much Kerri got from the experience too.

“I was never brought up around breastfeeding and didn’t know much about it…My family just assumed I’d be bottle feeding my son.”

Kerri

Have a listen and be inspired by Kerri’s story!

The boobingit podcast episode is also available to listen to on Spotify, iTunes, Google podcasts and more.

In this episode we also touch upon…

• The importance of skin-to-skin contact after birth
• Kerri’s amazing first feed experience and how newborn Ollie did the ‘breast crawl’
• The bittersweet final feed at 18 months
• A very special breast milk ring that Kerri had specially made for her by Precious by Kerry
• Tips on how to deal with family members who may not be supportive of breastfeeding.

Sources cited: Skin-To-Skin Contact (Unicef UK) and What’s The Big Deal With Skin-To-Skin? (La Leche League GB)