Written by Kat Marjoribanks, BRAS Peer Supporter Sometimes things don’t quite go as we expect when we’re expecting, and babies can be born early for all sorts of reasons. Our peer supporter Kat, was 22 weeks pregnant with her third baby in October 2019 when things started to go a little off course. Kat, can you tell us a little bit about what happened during your pregnancy and when your baby was born? Towards the end of my second trimester,…
What does it really mean to ‘succeed’ at breastfeeding? I am a peer supporter but I did not exclusively breastfeed my baby. That often surprises people but it’s true. I did not even manage to exclusively breastfeed my baby for 24 hours. We were still not exclusively breastfeeding when she was weaned onto solid foods. Recently I’ve found myself talking to people a lot about the concept of ‘all or nothing’ applied to breastfeeding. It often feels to parents like…
How social media is helping the BRAS to support parents during COVID19 Hello, my name is Paula and I am a Charnwood BRA! That’s me, up there, wearing the yellow headband. Some of you may have met me at our breastfeeding cafes or spoken to me online but you probably don’t know that another role I hold within the BRAS is coordinating our social media content and support. When I started volunteering for the BRAS in 2017, volunteering on the…
A Q&A with Angie Bell, Infant Feeding Co-ordinator It’s National Breastfeeding Celebration Week and as this year’s theme is “Breastfeeding during COVID19”, we thought we’d catch up with Angie Bell, one of our lovely Infant Feeding Co-ordinators for a chat about how Coronavirus has affected her day to day work. Hi Angie, thanks for taking the time to talk to us! For people who don’t know you, can you tell us a little more about what an Infant Feeding Co-ordinator…
by Meg Goulter, Charnwood BRA ‘It’s a mother’s job to worry.’ Or ‘You’ll never stop worrying about them.’ Most new parents will be told something along these lines over the first few months of parenthood and to some extent it is true. As parents, we are blessed with these young vulnerable lives to watch over and guide and we hope, dream and pray for them and what their lives might be like. We worry about so much in the early…
Written for Maternal Mental Health Week 4-10th May 2020 For this maternal mental health week, we caught up with our peer supporter Kelly in her pharmacist role to have a chat about some of the help available for breastfeeding mothers who need to take medication for a perinatal mental health condition. In her day job, Kelly is an incredibly skilled specialist pharmacist for the UK Drugs in Lactation Advisory Service. Kelly has worked for UKDILAS for 9 years and graduated…
As our Antenatal Workshops have sadly been suspended due to the spread of COVID-19 here are some ways you can prepare to breastfeed your baby from home💜 💜Watch a replay of our Facebook live on preparing to breastfeed with Emma Pickett IBCLC, Chair of the Association of Breastfeeding Mothers and IBCLC https://www.facebook.com/charnwoodbras/posts/3183396188361423?__tn__=-R💜Join our Charnwood BRAS, Virtual Breastfeeding Cafe! and chat to other mums about what to expect!💜Read a brilliant book about breastfeeding, our favourites are: 📔La Leche League, The Womanly Art of…
Hi, I’m Harriet and I’m a mum to two children aged 4 and 2. When I was expecting my first child Florence, I’d never given much thought to how I was going to feed my baby… of course I was going to breastfeed! But it became apparent that it might not come as naturally as I was expecting. After hearing tales of milk drying up, sore nipples and poor latches I started to research my support options. I heard about…
Hi I’m Charlotte, single mum of a 6-going on 16yr old-daughter and a 3 year old son. I remember being pregnant with my daughter and being asked if I was planning to breastfeed or bottle feed, I remember turning my nose up as if breastfeeding was for aliens and answered “bottle feed of course”; I had just turned 19 when she was born and as I lifted her out of the water I naturally put her straight to my breast…
Hi! I’m Paulina, proud wife & mother of three boys aged 7, nearly 5 and nearly 3 years. Our life is a bit of a circus, but we never get bored 😉 I have fed them all for different lengths of time, from 12 months to nearly 3 years! I have combi fed at times and also exclusively breastfed as soon as I was able to. I have pumped upon returning to work all three times and have overcome cracked…