5 Ways to Prepare for Breastfeeding

We’ve all heard that “breastfeeding is natural”. It would be easy to assume that breastfeeding will come naturally to all mums/parents and babies, right? The truth is, most mums/parents feel awkward and like they don’t know what they’re doing after their baby is born. Most mums/parents will need some support (a little or a lot) to get breastfeeding going in the right direction. So what can you do to give yourself the best chance of reaching your breastfeeding successfully and reaching your breastfeeding goal? Prepare for breastfeeding by learning about it before bub comes along!

1. Attend a pre-birth breastfeeding education session or a breastfeeding class

Hospital antenatal (pre-birth) classes often are not able to cover everything you need to know about breastfeeding. A breastfeeding specific education session or class will help you learn about:

• How breastfeeding works
• How to get breastfeeding started
• How to get a good latch/attachment (Pro tip: it shouldn’t hurt!)
• How to tell if your baby is getting enough breastmilk
• What to expect in the early days after birth
• Normal newborn behaviour
• How to adjust to life with a baby
• Learn about possible breastfeeding challenges and how to overcome them

If this isn’t your first baby and breastfeeding didn’t work out for you last time, it can be helpful to talk this through with a lactation consultant so you can debrief about your experience (breastfeeding grief is real!). They can also help you work out what happened so that you can avoid the same thing happening this time around.

Book a personalised one-on-one breastfeeding education session in your own home HERE. 

2. Get your partner/support person on board

Having a partner/support person who is supportive (in general and of breastfeeding) is one the main predictors of breastfeeding success, so involving them in your preparation and learning about breastfeeding can be super helpful! Sit down and have a chat with them and let them know that breastfeeding your baby is important to you and your baby and why. Have them come along to your breastfeeding class so they can learn about breastfeeding too. Partners/support people are often good at remembering things they learned when your brain is fried and tired in the haze of looking after a new baby.

3. Set up your support network

Friends and family

Talking to your friends and family about their experiences of breastfeeding can be helpful but be aware that you may hear scary stories about how hard it is and how much it hurt. Try not to take this to heart. Yes, many mums/parents find breastfeeding hard, especially at first while getting used to it but with support you can get through it! And breastfeeding should not hurt! If it does, something is not right and you need to get help from an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC) to figure out why. Having a supportive friend or family member to talk to about how things are going and the trials and triumphs of parenting can be very therapeutic and can help you feel that you’re not alone with your struggles.

Health Professionals/Birth workers

Talk to the health professionals (midwife, obstetrician, paediatrician, GP, doula) involved in yours and your baby’s care before the birth to get a sense of their attitude towards and knowledge of breastfeeding. If you feel they aren’t on the same page as you, this is a good opportunity to either choose a different health professional (if that’s an option) or find out where you can get the support you need somewhere else.

As mentioned above, if you have had breastfeeding struggles in the past, enlisting the help of an IBCLC before the birth can be a vital part in successful breastfeeding this time around and they can be an important part of your support network after the birth.

Mums group

Finding a group of mums/parents that have similar parenting styles and philosophies as you can be a great source of support, even after the early days. The Australian Breastfeeding Association (ABA) has support groups all over Australia. Groups like these are a great place to meet new friends and get hints and tips from those who have already been where you are. ABA groups also have trained volunteer breastfeeding counsellors or educators present to chat about any breastfeeding questions you might have. Find your local ABA support group here.

4. Make a breastfeeding plan

Lots of mums/parents make a birth plan that describes the practices around child birth that are important to them, but not as many make a breastfeeding plan. Making a breastfeeding plan helps you to consider all your options and preferences about how you will start off your breastfeeding journey and communicate them to your birth team. Your plan might talk about practices such as:

• immediate skin to skin after birth to regulate your baby’s heart rate, temperature and breathing, stimulate oxytocin release
• allowing the baby to do the breast crawl and baby led attachment
• have uninterrupted skin to skin time until baby has their first breastfeed

The ABA has a great example breastfeeding plan and blank template you can fill out here.

5. Think about how you’ll combine breastfeeding with your return to work

Find out about your employer’s policies around returning to work after maternity leave and breastfeeding before you have your baby. This can help you down the track when you plan your return to work while continuing to breastfeed. You can find out more about breastfeeding rights at work here and approaching your employer here. If you have a long period of maternity leave, you might not need to think about much else right now, but it’s important to touch base with your employer at least 2 months before you return to work to chat about your options and needs. The ABA has a great plan template for this too. 

Bonus tip: The Breastfeeding Circle

The Breastfeeding Circle can help you with all the tips mentioned above! It’s an online community where you’ll be supported to build your breastfeeding knowledge, support network and confidence so that you can breastfeed your baby for as long as you want to.

So there you go! A little bit of knowledge and planning can go a long way to helping you breastfeed successfully and reach your breastfeeding goals. You’ve got this, mumma!