Breastfeeding after a breast reduction
Meet Laura and Louisa
Laura writes - “After having a breast reduction I was unable to successfully breastfeed my first two babies. This was despite my deep desire to breastfeed and despite going through great measures including finger feeding, using a supplemental nursing system, using nipple shields, taking numerous medications, pumping, endlessly researching the subject, and many consultations with lactation consultants.
Through More Milk Sooner, I used antenatal hand expression which changed the trajectory of my breastfeeding journey and empowered me with the knowledge that I was producing colostrum prior to the birth of my third baby. I have had the most beautiful breastfeeding experience with my third baby thanks to More Milk Sooner.
I hope More Milk Sooner’s cutting-edge message about antenatal hand expression reaches all who are wanting to breastfeed, either through Naida directly or through professional development for nurses and doctors. I know I would have benefitted greatly from learning about this sooner.
Naida, you have given me such an incredible gift that I will forever cherish. You have left a lasting mark on my life, thank you from the bottom of my heart.”
Breastfeeding after
gestational diabetes
Meet Rhonda and Ben
Rhonda writes-”I was borderline Type 2 diabetic prior to becoming pregnant. When I did become pregnant this past year - getting diagnosed with gestational diabetes was stressful. I knew I wanted to breastfeed and this diagnosis actually might have prevented that if it wasn't for this program. I ended up having a last minute c-section after being induced on top of everything else.
Luckily, I had began hand expression with the kits provided by this program. I was able to give my newborn early nutrients and have time for my milk to come in. My baby was born jaundice, so the pressure was on to make sure he was fed.
Today, I am successfully breastfeeding and recently learned that I not only avoided type 2 diabetes but my sugars are better than they were pre-pregnancy. Without this program, I am not sure that would have been the outcome!
Thanks Naida for all your ongoing support and I hope this program flourishes as it is so very important to all moms and their babies.”
Breastmilk in the NICU
Meet Steph and Tabitha
Steph writes-”Hand-expression had an amazing impact on our family in a way I never thought it would. I didn’t realize how important this collection was until I delivered my daughter very suddenly at 35+2 weeks gestation. She had a difficult time breathing right away and breastfeeding (even for 5 minutes) in her first day of life was exhausting for her. Luckily, I was well practiced at hand expression by that time and was able to express enough colostrum / breast milk on demand for her to consume from a syringe. It kept her hydrated and maintained her blood sugar for almost 24 hours before she started to poop out from work of breathing and required transport to the NICU. Upon admission she needed help breathing and was not able to consume anything by mouth for just over 72 hours. During that time I continued to hand express and do hands on pumping to provide her with breast milk. By the time she was breathing independently and I was able to start attempting to latch her she was almost 5 days old. Due to hand expression and pumping my supply continued to increase daily despite never having actually nursed her. I continued to express breastmilk to supplement her after breastfeeding attempts until she was strong enough to feed exclusively from the breast. It was not an easy journey to exclusive breastfeeding for us. However, I truly believe that it was the practice of hand expression that enabled me to support her breast milk needs even though she was not able to breastfeed for several days after birth.”