After successfully breastfeeding my first daughter, to the point where it was a struggle to make the transition to bottles, I never once questioned my ability to feed my new baby daughter when she arrived. With your first child you dont know what to expect, so I never put any pressure on myself and just maintained that I would be baby led and hopefully all would be fine.

However, the second time around, as an "experienced mother" (the midwife's words, not mine) I just assumed that my new baby would latch on the same. How wrong could I be?

For the first couple of days she just "snacked" and when the midwife weighed her on day three, she expressed concern that she had dropped lower than 10% of her birth weight and needed to speak to a consultant at the hospital. By this point, I was exhausted but had already recognised that feeding wasnt going as planned, so out came the breast pump! Anyone that has used one will know that this is quite simply the least glamorous piece of equipment ever invented (with the exception of stirrups maybe) and I started expressing and expressing and expressing. Amazingly, in complete contrast to my eldest daughter, the little one took the bottle straight away and whilst I was dissapointed that she wasnt breastfeeding in the traditional sense, she was still getting my milk, so did it really matter?

Those first few weeks seemed to be a constant merry go round of expressing, sterilising, feeding, expressing ... (you get the picture) and I joked that I was like a 24 hour cafe and I found it much harder than I had ever imagined.

The little one is greedy and my exhaustion didnt help the milk production either, so I replaced one feed, with a formula bottle. At the time I felt like a failure but I also knew that if  I wanted to retain some form of sanity, I had to do what was best for me and the baby. My health visitor was amazing and once I had "confessed" to giving her a bottle of formula milk, we talked through moving forward and how I felt. 

National Breastfeeding Awareness Week needs to be celebrated by mums, dads, grandparents and everyone else in between and its such a shame that the NHS simply dont have the funds to promote it as I was so grateful to have my health visitor to talk to and a local breatfeeding group to share with and these resources are invaluable.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing and I know that I gave both my daughters the best start I could but all mothers beat themselves up over whether they are doing the wrong thing or indeed anything right . The little one did eventually latch on and now at 9 months we have eventually stopped the last feed, so am I writing this with some pride and a little sadness. I did perservere, it was sometimes hard work, exhausting but ultimately totally rewarding to be the one she relied on but now at 9 months, she loves to feed herself and is already demonstrating strong signs of independance.

So for me, its the end of an era but for her, the food adventure is only just beginning.

National Breastfeeding Awareness Week runs from the 24th to 30th June 2012 but its ironic that the NHS simply dont have the funds available to raise awareness, so in step the bloggers!

As new mums, we have it drilled into us that "breast is best" but what is best for mum when she is in a crowded place with disapproving glances. (I was always thankful for my discreet Mamascarf)  Now I am a huge breastfeeding advocate but I am also not the breastfeeding police either, its down to personal preference and individual choice. I have many friends who simply balk at the idea of breastfeeding, whilst others have fed their little ones through weaning and beyond, so I genuinely think that awareness needs to be raised within the community, rather than with new mums.

Many women dont reach their breastfeeding goals, some stopping earlier than they wanted to through pressure or peoples preconcieved ideas. Many mums need to return to work but they do not have flexible work options or suitable areas to breastfeed, which seems strange because breastfeeding is the oldest and most natural process known to man kind, so how has our evolution bypassed the most basic requirements for a working mother.

So what do you think? Surely a baby has every right to "feed" in a restaurant as a child or an adult, rather than shunted into a toilet? Or would that put you off your dinner????

Please share any events or blogs raising awareness for breastfeeding this week on our Facebook page, here

Okay so after 2 children I cant say that my stomach is toned and ripped ( but then again I cant say with conviction that it ever was ) but unless you are a movie star with a dietitian and a personal trainer, most new mums dont have the time or the inclination to go through rigorous exercise regimes. Most of us feel lucky just to get through the day, so when I had an email about the Academy for Wellbeing, I was more than a little intrigued.

The Academy 4 Wellbeing is a brand new weight-loss retreat designed to transform lives. They have recognised that many new mums find it hard to get back into shape after the birth of their little ones, however, I am told that the Academy 4 Wellbeing will give guests the skills and knowledge to improve their entire wellbeing; from health and fitness, to nutrition and weight loss.

The Academy 4 Wellbeing is opening its door for the first time in September 2012.  Prices start at £995 for a seven day stay, so its not the cheapest option around but they firmly believe that the lessons you will learn in this week will stay with you for life ..... so if you divide £995 by another 40 years of your life - it equates to less than £25 a year,  which has got to be cheaper than weekly weight loss meetings?

I was given the opportunity to visit the Academy 4 Wellbeing but due to other commitments, I couldnt go (and my wellbeing is cursing me for it), so I am not recommending this on personal experience, nor am I offering any form of endorsement. What I am saying is that it looks like a fantastic kick start to physical and emotional wellbeing .... and what mum wouldnt love the opportunity for a seven day break. So *if* you get the chance to go - please let us know what you think! We would love to hear about it.

For more information log on to www.academy4wellbeing.com 
 

If you are a regular blog reader, you will know that I am blessed with two perfectly (cheeky) daughters who, although were both 10 days early, were born safely and without incident. But what would I have done if that hadnt been the case? During pregnancy, most women just assume that their baby will arrive safely and healthily but for those parents that do have premature or sick babies, what then?

As a parent, I know that I would have wanted all the information available to me so I am therefore pleased to be able to share details of the new national initiative that supports families with a premature or sick baby. The initiative launches on the 19^th June 2012 and is designed to enable every family of a sick or premature baby to be at the cornerstone of their baby’s care in ways that can help to improve health outcomes.  

Here are some details from the press release for you:                                                                                                       

UK-based child health charity Best Beginnings, working with six medical Royal College, UNICEF and more than 15 other organisations, is rolling out a national Small Wonders Change Programme implemented by over 400 nurse, doctor and midwife ‘Champions’ within hospitals throughout the UK to help families of premature and sick babies in the UK irrespective of their socio-economic group, receive the same high quality family-centered care.

At the centre of the programme is the Small Wonders DVD, which is the culmination of two years of intensive work for Best Beginnings and follows fourteen families, charting the real-life experiences the parents faced as they met, cared for, and returned home with their premature or sick baby.  With 80,000 babies in the UK each year born either premature or sick it is designed as a tool to enable neonatal staff to support and advise parents through their baby’s stay, and encourage parents to play a pivotal role in the care their baby receives in ways that have been proven to positively impact health outcomes, interventions and activities such expressing breast milk, responding to their baby’s non-verbal cues and having skin-to-skin contact.

Using the expertise of over 200 experts in neonatal care including consultant neonatologists, representatives of Royal Colleges, specialist dieticians and infant feeding specialists and created in conjunction with 10 hospitals across the UK, the Small Wonders DVD is designed to ensure that parents have the insight, guidance, confidence and support they need, from when they are first told they may be having a premature baby, through those first crucial hours after birth to their baby’s first birthday.  The DVD is split into 12 films each covering a different topic, which parents can select individually.

In addition to being available for free in neonatal units across the UK the Small Wonders DVD is available to purchase for £5 from www.bestbeginnings.org.uk/pages/shop/.

Having been fortunate enough to breastfeed both of my daughters, I know the bond it can give you and this kind of support is invaluable, especially to mums feeling vulnerable after the birth of this gorgeous small person into the world. Best Beginnings is a small charity committed to having a big impact on child health across the UK.  You can find out more about their work and support them at http://www.bestbeginnings.org.uk/appeal/donate-for-child-health 

If you know one person that this may help or be of interested to - please share it with them. This small action can mean a big deal to someone who is feeling isolated or struggling and with most of us never having enough hands to hold a book, a DVD is a great way to share this information.

Wouldnt you want the Best Beginning?  

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