Following Cues: Breastfeeding Journey
After finishing her Masters in Biotechnology, Vaishali B realized that she had zero patience for research and decided to explore her first love of teaching! She got a chance to do so during her stint at the TeachIndia campaign, and she is a high school Biology teacher, now on a sabbatical. Having lived almost all her life in Mumbai and suddenly shifting to Chennai after marriage, Vaishali had a lot of time in hand to pursue reading, writing and cooking. However, she believes that motherhood has changed her. She has become more hands-on and deeply influenced by natural as well as scientific parenting. And that led to the start of her blog on early learning, the books she reads with her daughter, Montessori education and gentle parenting. You can read more about the dynamic mother-daughter duo on Amma Today on their website, Instagram and Facebook (FB). Vaishali currently freelances from home and plans to get back to teaching once the little one starts full day school. In the meanwhile, Vivikthya, her 2 year old, keeps her on her toes, mind active and teaches her new lessons in patience, thinking and love every day. 1. Vaishali, you had a great support system in the form of your doctor during your pregnancy. Could you tell us about your birthing experience? During pregnancy, I focused only on my bump, the kicks, and the delivery that I did not pay attention to breastfeeding. I have been truly blessed and lucky to have found a supportive gynaecologist who conducted monthly prenatal classes. One session had a paediatrician cover the basics of breastfeeding – the whys and hows. In fact, she also emphasized on nursing in public (NIP) being absolutely normal and how to take ‘milk supply is not enough’ comments in our stride. I had a beautiful pregnancy surrounded by family, friends and chirpy students. Everyone predicted an early delivery; so imagine my disappointment when 2 days past my expected delivery date (edd) there were no signs of labour. My gynaecologist was supportive of a natural birth process but since I had oligohydraminos (water level had reduced greatly), she induced me using a Folley balloon catheter. After 11 hours of labour, my girl made a dramatic entry, vaginally. 2. I am glad you had a delivery, free of unnecessary interventions. How was your first experience with breastfeeding? The doctors were particular that I be the first one to hold her for a second before she was sent off to get cleaned. She was then brought back to be fed within the golden hour. The nurses, doctors and residents ensured I had no issues in breastfeeding. The first latch, to be honest, was painful. And all I could see were 2 drops. I did worry if it was enough. The gynaecs and support staff helped me with the latch immediately. The first few days were awkward. Plus V was a chomper and cluster fed a lot. I think I broke down on day 2 when I was already having a hard time, and the hospital’s Lactation Consultant (LC) came for rounds and announced to my husband, “Doodh enough nahi hai (There is not enough milk). Ask her to nurse more. Or else the baby will keep crying.” Well, that was just the beginning. V had acute colic, and has been almost singularly only with me since birth. It seemed like we were nursing for major part of the day. To add to it, random people would stop me and advise me about my milk supply on hearing her cries. At about 6 weeks, there was a week when she slept through the night and I woke with heavy breasts. That was when I saw with my own eyes that there was enough milk and decided to turn a deaf ear to unwelcome suggestions. A pediatrician advised to have galactagogue; I wish I hadn’t done that, simply because there was no need. One fine day I decided to stop as I kept gaining weight steadily after having them. Guess what? My supply primarily depended on V’s suckling. Hence, not affected. 3. You did struggle a bit during the initial few weeks. How did you manage? My husband had to go back to his work city the day after we got back home from the hospital. My dad had to go back to work and mom developed a condition in her shoulder because of which she couldn’t move her hands for the next couple of weeks. Thus, although we had help for other chores, baby care primarily fell on my shoulders. My girl had severe colic. I used to dread the 4-10p.m window. She refused anybody else and had to be carried and rocked the entire time. The first few weeks were hard. Due to cluster feeding, I had sore nipples and my back hurt. But once I started nursing lying down, and babywearing her, I think I got some of my sanity back. Everybody helped in whatever little way they could, whenever they could. My mum looked up lactation friendly recipes and my dad massaged my back while I nursed V during her infant days. After I went back to my husband, he would get up at nights to help burp the baby. He even cooked the next day because I was exhausted from being awake the whole night. That’s how I managed! 4. It is amazing when you have your family as your little army of support! Absolutely! I also have to mention the Breastfeeding Support for Indian Mothers (BSIM) FB group which has time and again given me the will to continue on extremely hard days. They made me realize that full term breastfeeding should not be a taboo. And last but not the least, I have to mention my mommy tribe – my gang of girls to whom I vented out on hard days. They made it seem like it’s okay because, they are going through it too. I don’t think I can
The Learning Curve: Breastfeeding Journey
A doting mother to Kayalvizhi, her 2 years and 3 months old, Sinduja loves to bake and read; her companions to get through difficult parenting days with ease. She says, “My kindle was and is still my savior during late night feeding sessions, growth spurts and cluster feedings. Sinduja is a software professional for 7 years and is absolutely rocking the balance between work and home. Read her successful journey to the top of the learning curve. 1. Sinduja, you seemed to have prepared yourself for breastfeeding in the few months leading up to your delivery. I have always seen my cousins feeding their kids. So my initial knowledge about breastfeeding was that it is a natural process and milk secretion will begin as soon as the baby comes out. I had no idea about the complexities surrounding it. Luckily for me, my close friend Manju added me to a Facebook support group, Breastfeeding Support for Indian Mothers (BSIM), when I was 5 months pregnant. Since I have a passion for reading, I just started reading through the various documents in the group. This played a major role in my breastfeeding journey. I got to know that WHO recommends breastfeeding exclusive breastfeeding for 6 months and with solids for a minimum of 2 years. The posts from other members regarding issues they face created awareness for me. I learnt about growth spurts, cluster feedings, nipple pain, engorgement, etc and also got to know the various myths associated with feeding. This was all in total contrast to what I had originally known about breastfeeding. Based on the information provided on the group, I knew I had short and flat nipples and I learnt the deep latching techniques to prepare myself. “I concluded that breastfeeding is an art which has a learning curve associated with it; to be mastered by the mother and child.” 2. Wow, that’s just truly commendable! So did all the knowledge and preparation help when it came down to actually breastfeeding? Apart from a few hiccups, it was a pretty smooth journey from day 1. I had an induced vaginal delivery using vacuum and had an epidural as well. I started feeding my daughter within 2 hours of birth. Luckily for me, she latched like a pro from the beginning and I also had a good supply. In spite of all this, she had lost more than 12% of her birth weight. So, a ‘namesake’ Lactation Consultant (LC) from the hospital checked and advised me to use a nipple shield. Since I had already read about the cons of using a shield I refused to use it. Due to neonatal jaundice, they kept my daughter inside a phototherapy glass box . They asked me to give her top feed (formula) with my pumped milk since she was not gaining weight. They also prescribed galactogogues. Though I knew pumping wasn’t advisable in the initial days and galactogogues may mess up my supply, the mom in me refused to budge. Instead I continued to give her my pumped milk as a top feed and fortunately she started gaining weight from the next day. We had another setback when she stopped pooping from the time she was kept inside the phototherapy box. Everyone constantly kept saying that the jaundice will reduce only when she poops. They gave her anal stimulation. She pooped once bringing down the jaundice level leading to our discharge. But the struggle was after we got home. She wasn’t pooping and that is when I began to doubt my supply. Thankfully, there was no pressure to give formula. I went to a certified LC, Swati Jagdish, in Coimbatore (India). She helped me understand how breast milk works with babies easing my tensions. Coincidentally, my daughter started pooping regularly from then. 3. You went back to work when your daughter turned 6 months. How did you manage to continue breastfeeding? Nothing would have been possible without my awesome support system – my parents, sister and husband. They were all equally involved in taking care of the baby and all I had to do was nurse her. When I came to Bangalore (India) after 6 months, my mom accompanied me and continues to stay with us as I have a full time job. I had flexible working hours and I could choose between working out of home or office. Till she turned 11 months, I pumped once in the morning which was sufficient for 2 feeds. I would be home for lunch by the time the pumped milk got over and continued to work from home. Since she had taken well to solids by then, I slowly increased my hours at the office. Till she was 15 months, I pumped in the mornings and then transitioned her to cow’s milk. We breastfed directly when together. 4. A solid support system does make a whole lot of difference in a breastfeeding journey. But there came in a point in your journey when you had nursing aversions. How did you overcome it? Things were going good until we hit the 18th month growth spurt. She demanded to be fed every 5 mins when together. While some days went well, some days were really rough. At one point the nursing aversions were at its peak. I ended up staying longer hours in the office only to avoid breastfeeding. Honestly, I was on the verge of quitting but kept telling myself that this is just a phase. The online support groups were my savior. They gave me the necessary push to carry on. And just like that, we crossed the big milestone of nursing for 2 years. And I take pride in saying that we haven’t visited a hospital even once for anything other than vaccinations in these 2 years. All thanks to the immunity built through breastfeeding. Things are a lot better now and she understands when I say I can’t feed her as I’m tired. The journey has become a lot
Nursing in Sequence: Breastfeeding Journey
A software engineer, Meghna Antani, used to work full time till she delivered her son in May 2012. When on maternity leave, she had to move and hence quit her job. She is now a full time mommy to her two children. Let’s read through her beautiful journey, nursing in sequence. 1. Meghna, how was preparation vs. initiation of breastfeeding? While pregnant in 2012, the literature recommended and available was not the best. I read “What to expect when you’re expecting” many times. I thought I was prepared for labour and delivery. And that breastfeeding should be instinctive. My son was born with an emergency cesarean at about 8pm on a Sunday. He demanded to feed and latched on fairly well for the situation, as soon as he was to brought to me in the recovery room. With the still fresh wound, It was a challenge to turn to my side, but somehow I was able to position him. He wanted to take a long feed and sleep with me. The nurses thought I needed to rest myself. So he would feed for about half an hour and then cry when taken outside. I couldn’t rest even if I wanted to; not much because I could only hear my newborn’s wails. The nurses would entertain him for another half to one hour and bring him back to feed and hopefully sleep. I think they also gave him a feed of formula. The cycle continued till 5:30 in the morning, when I simply asked the nurse to go away and leave me with the baby. I covered him and nursed him to sleep. After waking up, I needed another incision for the IV as it had collapsed from the entire baby holding and positioning. They asked me to be careful as it took many incisions. 2. So, it basically was a smooth journey? The breastfeeding journey was not very challenging, he fed well. The only hitch was the lactation counsellor (LC) recommending to sit and feed, space out feeds, limit the feeds to certain time every few hours. To my regret, I followed this advice till seeing the paediatrician after a week. He advised to feed on demand and use any comfortable position. I lied down to nurse. The breastfeeding journey was smooth from that point onward; baby’s pee count was good. I did get tired from constant nursing and used to attempt to go out of baby’s sight once or twice a day. Learnt about baby carriers and tried one commercially available option at about 6 weeks, it was a resounding fail. I did not know enough about ergonomic babywearing or would have tried something (I regret not knowing enough then, it was a boon with my second). 3. You breastfed your son till he turned 4. Can you tell us a little about the journey? My son breastfed on demand till he was about 17-18 months. Slowly, I started distracting from few daytime demands and focusing on food intake. By the time he was 2 years, he was down to breastfeeding before nap and bed, after wake up, and during night wake up. I relaxed it based on the situation; when he was teething or sick he fed on demand. In another few months, I dropped the wake up feeds and offered food instead. He continued to nurse before nap and bedtime (and night wake up) till he weaned. Towards the end, it was down to exactly 3 feeds, 1 each before nap and sleep, 1 at dawn. We would read books at bedtime, and then he would feed to sleep. All attempts at getting him to wean were unsuccessful (we had to attempt night weaning because of carries), so we left it to his choice. At some point after his 4th birthday, he had a very large and painful ulcer near the lips which interfered in latching. He was still going strong at 4 years with no signs of quitting, and within 5 days was weaned. I continued to read before bed and he slept in the same position as before, minus the breastfeeding. At dawn, I patted him back to sleep. He stopped napping the day he refused to feed. So, with a combination of stopping breastfeeds and stopping the afternoon nap, he started sleeping for about 10 hours uninterrupted. I was also working on night pee training. An illness warrants a visit to a doctor; similarly take breastfeeding difficulties to a LC. 4. Indeed a beautiful journey! How was the beginning with your daughter? I found out that I was pregnant around the same time that he weaned. So it was pure luck that I didn’t have to worry about nursing through pregnancy or weaning or tandem nursing. I continued to sleep with him, till he started jumping on my tummy to wind down. We used a queen sized bed so my husband slept in another room to give us space. After a few weeks into pregnancy, I switched places with my husband. We continue the arrangement now, I sleep with the younger and husband sleeps with the older. Pregnancy was smooth apart from horrid nausea. I delivered a girl on a Friday in January 2017 at about 8 am. She was born in a VBAC (Vaginal Birth after C-section). As soon as I was sutured and given leave from the labour room, within 20 minutes after birth, she was breastfed. She was jaundiced, didn’t demand feeds, and preferred to sleep when swaddled. The latch was shallow. I was feeding a 4 year old before the pregnancy so maybe my perception was skewed. I figured out a pattern where I would strip her down to change diaper then nurse back to sleep. We saw very few pee diapers till after discharge. 5. Did it get better after you got home? I think there was no pee for over 24 hours. But the doctor was not worried. He asked us to wait for 36 hours and keep feeding. After discharge,
Challenging Obstacles: Breastfeeding Journey
Parigna Pandya Shah loves challenging obstacles through her determination, perseverance and hard work. Before we see it through her breastfeeding journey, let us learn a little more about her. Parigna completed her Masters in Counselling Psychology and a Masters in Gujarati Literature. She was awarded a gold medal for topping the University. Parigna began learning Indian Classical Music at the age of 6 and has sung for ads, TV serials, private albums and for Gujarati and Hindi films till college years. Post her 12th grade, she got into dubbing and went on to become a full time voice artiste. Some of her appreciated dubbing jobs are Hermione Granger in Harry Potter, Peaches in Ice Age, Gwen in Ben 10 and Chhota Bheem in Chhota Bheem. Other films (dubbing) in her kitty include Angry Birds (movie), Independence Day, Resurgence, X-men and more. The Disney approved singing voice of Minnie Mouse is hers. She has also explored the field of acting by doing a couple of Gujarati plays called ‘Jaagine joun to – Narsainyo, ek musical gatha’ and ‘Mari Vani, Meghani Sarvani’ with renowned actor Utkarsh Mazumdar. She also did a serial called ‘Muktibandhan’ for Colors TV in 2011 and acted in a short film ‘Kabira calling’. When asked, Parigna describes herself as a psychologist by education, singer/dubbing artiste by profession and an actor by passion. Post baby, she does selective work and her most recent prestigious project was voicing (hindi) for Emma Stone in her latest movie – Battle of the sexes. 1. Very impressive profile, Parigna. Were you prepared for this new journey you were to embark on? The hospital I chose to deliver in followed the Baby-friendly Hospital Initiative (BFHI). The gynaecologist(s) are staunch supporters of breastfeeding and are active in the Maharashtra chapter of Breastfeeding Promotion Network India (BPNI). From when a woman is pregnant, breastfeeding is promoted. The classes that are arranged are not only for the expecting mothers but also for the fathers; to introduce them to the importance and basics of breastfeeding. I had taken a prenatal class along with my family members with a lactation consultant (LC) working at my birthing facility. I learnt about its importance, challenges, common issues and their solutions; in theory. I had seen my mom nursing my younger sister. I had also seen other women in my extended family nursing their babies. So I thought, how hard could it be! 2. It looked like a good start. A little theory knowledge helps you recognize a situation. How much did it help you? I had a normal delivery and I nursed my baby right on the delivery table; just a few minutes after she was born. The first two days were pretty uneventful apart from the major sleep deprivation that was paving its way through my life, for years to follow. 😉 My milk volume increased on the third day leaving me super engorged pretty soon. It was not only difficult to latch the baby on the breast hard as rock, but next to impossible to be able to express without going through excruciating pain. People tried to help; from my husband to my mom and sister. The LC taught me the expression technique, but it was too painful to even touch my breasts. None of us could bring ourselves to inflict so much pain upon me. A nurse, of course with the right intentions, volunteered and expressed with totally wrong techniques. This led to bruising of my right breast and it continued to pain for a month. I can easily mark that day as the toughest day in my life with regards to enduring physical pain. Simultaneously, my baby developed neonatal jaundice. They gave her light therapy in my room itself. The physical pain of engorgement coupled with emotional pain of seeing that tiny thing in a box under blue lights was overwhelming. 3. Definitely not the start you had expected. Did things get better once you got home? Fortunately, things seemed to get better after a day and we came home. I have always been a very sincere and dedicated person. I try to give my best in everything I do. And if I can’t do something to the best of my abilities, I don’t do it at all. But in certain things, you can’t quit. Some things are too important to be left at the mercy of fate; breastfeeding is one of those. I had a mission in front of me – ‘6 months of exclusive breastfeeding’. So, I put alarms and nursed my baby every 2 hours. We were called the next evening for a weight check. My baby had lost 90 grams of her weight in 24 hours. Shocked, we immediately rushed to the pediatrician. She checked and observed her and told us that Aaratrika is lethargic. Her fingertips and soles were slightly blue and she wasn’t nursing efficiently. The pediatrician was surprised. She had been coming to the maternity home where I delivered from day one. As per her, my baby was the most active baby around. She advised my daughter’s admission to NICU for observation. 4. I got goosebumps. I cannot even imagine your plight. What happened next? I was in the general ward of the children’s hospital smelling my baby’s clothes. I thought I had lost her. There was no bed/room available at the hospital and I stayed the night with my husband sitting on the staff bed. And I went inside the NICU every couple of hours to nurse my baby. Eventually we had to be in the hospital for 3 more nights. They did numerous tests on her. All the reports were perfectly fine. The doctors came to the conclusion that the baby must not have received enough milk because of my super engorged breasts. Apparently, the baby was suckling, but was unable to transfer any milk. This really shattered me. As a mother, I had to just feed the baby. But, I couldn’t do that as well! The
Perfect – Imperfect Journey: Breastfeeding Journey
Priya Kathpal is a nutritionist by profession. She says, “It happened during the college years while exploring career options and interests 🙂 I must mention here that I am a big time foodie at heart. Being a nutritionist actually helps me balance things :P. I can’t really say I was unaware about so and so food effects :D”. Read on to know about Priya Kathpal’s perfect – imperfect breastfeeding journey.
Sailing through hurdles: Breastfeeding Journey
Zoya Khan has two degrees and one masters to her credit; a Bachelors in Technology (B.Tech), Bachelors in Commerce (B.Com) and Masters in Business Administration (MBA). She had the opportunity to work with dyslexic kids and be a part of their life’s journey when she decided to do a few certificate courses. Zoya did a few workshops for teaching special needs children. She counselled parents of differently-abled kids as they weren’t ready to accept them. At one of the meets, she met a person who helped abuse (all kinds) victims. Zoya moved on to assist with counselling them too. After shifting base to Hyderabad (India), she has not been affiliated with any organisation. But Zoya continues to help victims of abuse through online counselings. She is currently pursuing a course in Clinical Psychology. Zoya has also developed her passion in crocheting into a business and CuddliciousZ was born. Her breastfeeding journey was no cakewalk, but sail through the hurdles she did.
A bittersweet journey: Breastfeeding Journey
Raksha Raghavan was born and raised in Bangalore before she moved to Singapore after marriage. She did her engineering in information technology and worked with IBM, Bangalore for around 2.5yrs. After moving to Singapore, she worked for BNP Paribas for 1.5 years before moving to London in the same job for another 2 yrs. Raksha later joined an American bank for 1.5 years before she went on her maternity leave. After the government stipulated leave period of 12 months, she is back to building her career with JP Morgan. Raksha is an avid reader and a crochet artist. She also used to write a lot until a couple of years ago. Apart from the above mentioned Raksha is a crusader for breastfeeding and is a certified Breastfeeding Mother Supporter. Read on to know more about Raksha’s bittersweet breastfeeding journey.
