This was a session on breast feeding, and unlike the NHS one, husbands and partners were invited!! To be fair to him, Steve was well behaved and the only time he got fits of giggles was when I too found myself a little overwhelmed at the activity or presentation and too, giggled away like an immature school girl.
Pretty much all of us in the group said we were going to give breast feeding a go. I think we'd be silly not to. Perfectly heated food for baby, free on tap?! It can save about £1000 if you don't use formula. And no matter what you're told, there's nothing as good for baby as breast milk in powdered milk. That's not to say of course babies brought up on formula can't be healthy, of course they can, I have two very robust nephews running around who were bottle fed but there's no denying breast milk is designed for babies by nature.
We were told about the colostrum which comes first (the watery substance) that is like 'gold dust' apparently. This stuff is chock full of nutrients that nothing else can substitute and we're encouraged to at least try breast feeding for the first 3 days to ensure baby receives this fluid to boost their immunity.
On day three, that is typically when the milk comes in and we have 'Jordan' boobs (cue Steve's first inane giggle at the thought). This is a day when everything can seem bad. Boobs will hurt, be engorged and huge, hormones may crash and there may be weeping. Lovely.
On attempting to continue with breastfeeding with proper milk it's important to change sides and not to favour one boob over the other. To get a proper feed, baby needs the fore milk (like normal milky substance) and then the hind milk (like a McDonalds milkshake!)
The guys in the group were all passed a 'frubes' tube yoghurt to demonstrate the importance of positioning to ensure baby has the most comfortable feed which will help with latching on and getting to the point of the hind milk, and to see all these men trying to suck yoghurt was the point of giggles for me. I'm sure Steve will never be able to look at a Frube yoghurt in the same way again.
Then us girls were passed dolls to try different positions as well which was funny too. As was the animation as to how it technically works which I do have to say freaks me out a little. I know it's natural and I'm determined to give it a good go, but the fact your body takes over and starts producing milk I find a little freaky. I think it's another 'out of my control' thing and I find that bizarre. I shall do my best to go with it though and put the 'cow' thoughts out of my head!!
Other pro's to breast feeding were of course the weight loss element and helping the uterus to contract back down to size, and apparently it helps against some cancers and I'm sure there was more but I can't remember now.
Cons were the risk of mastitis, sleepless nights, baby depending solely on you and that sort of thing.
Still, I guess we'll see where we end up with it. It should certainly be interesting. I just can't picture how it will all be working out in my head yet! Me sitting with a baby to my breast. Hmm!!
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