How many of you have worried about the drugs you’re offered during childbirth and whether or not you should take them? Ami from My Mummy Spam is guest posting today with her thoughts on this topic and tells you…

Don’t be a Hero!

Gas and air, pethadene, epidural, water birth, tens machine, paracetamol, hypno birthing…

The list of pain relief options women can choose during labour is endless and individual to each woman and their wishes. So why do people still judge you when you use certain types of pain relief?

Bubba was born in September 2014. Due to a problem with my blood pressure, I was induced and it was reccomened that I should have an edipudural. At this point in my labour I had been contracting for over 7 hours and was stuck at 3 cm. I was willing to take anything and do whatever I could to get my baby here as soon and as safe as possible. When I tell people that I have had an epidural I am usually met with these responses:

”Oh no!! Did it feel like you actually gave birth?”

“What a shame. I bet you would have preferred to have gone natural”

“Oh I am really sorry!”

I would tell you exactly what I reply back to these comments but I don’t really want to swear on the lovely Alex’s blog 🙂 but I will say this;

Having an epidural was the best thing for me and do you know what? I would happily have one again!

I still gave birth but I did it without all of the pain and stress and agony that most women have to go through and I do not regret one second of it. I have a friend who said to me before I had bubba “if you go to the dentist and get your tooth pulled out you have your mouth numbed right? Why do more people not do the same when they have a baby?” and now I know just how right she is.

I feel no shame at all that I had an epidural but the comments I receive about it always leaves me asking myself why expectant mothers get pressured to ‘be a hero’ as such. Why can’t they just be left to decide what is right for them and their situations?

Some people have really high pain thresholds and some have really low, but why we should judge women’s birth experiences on how much pain they could withstand! So many women I know have said that epidurals would be their last resort and they could never give me a really straight answer as to why. I am sure it is because they don’t want to be judged for having one and ‘taking the easy way out” as some put it (and FYI it isn’t easy…we are still squishing a baby out of our hoohaa!!)

It’s the same with C-sections. The only reason I didn’t want one was because of the recovery time, not because I wanted to go natural. It’s all down to personal preference. If you do it with no pain relief HIGH FIVE mama as that isn’t an easy job but if you didn’t then that’s okay too and you still get a HIGH FIVE because you have given birth and that’s amazing!!

So ladies out there…

Don’t be a hero. There is no shame in doing what you need to do to get your little baby into your arms as safe and as happily as possible.

You just do you 🙂

Thank you so much to Ami for providing this article. She’s totally right. You shouldn’t try to be a ‘hero’ in childbirth. I didn’t have epidurals in either of my labours, but in the heat of the moment I did ask for them. Personally I’m glad I didn’t have one, but that is purely because it can prolong labour and I wanted it over asap! The pain is intense and I’m surprised that more mums don’t opt for stronger pain relief. I love what Ami’s friend said about the dentist – she’s totally right!

Just get those baby’s out safely mummys. 

You can find Ami over on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube. Go give her a follow!

Breastfeeding is challenging, ask any mum who does it, but it’s also unbelievably rewarding. The thing is, the early days can be so tough while you’re establishing a routine that it can be so easy to give up and bottle feed. The pain, the cluster feeds, engorgement. Oh, the engorgement.

Like I’ve already talked about on here, I couldn’t breastfeed Lamb, so I didn’t expect breastfeeding to be so successful with BB. You can read about my breastfeeding hopes and fears in a previous post.

I’ve now been successfully breastfeeding BB for 16 weeks and I love it. The early days were tough. The first time I cried after BB was born was because of how engorged and painful my boobs were. I didn’t suffer with baby blues, but the pain of breastfeeding in the first days really got to me.

I knew I would power through but there was a moment on my first day at home with BB when I begged my husband with get the breast pump in the early hours so I could use a bottle for a little relief. He spent 20 minutes downstairs sterilising my Medela Harmony manual pump and a bottle. I tried pumping and managed a to express a couple of ounces. BB took the bottle (as far as I remember) but I knew I really needed to continue to feed him myself if I wanted to establish a routine.

I started reading tips and advice on the internet. A lot of women were saying if it’s super painful then baby probably isn’t latching correctly. As this was my first time breastfeeding I didn’t realise there are techniques to latching and how easy it is to do it wrong.

Luckily my health visitor called me the day after BB was born (earlier than expected). She offered to come over to give me some support and I was so grateful for her help. Immediately she saw I wasn’t holding BB correctly. She must of spent half and hour watching me latch over and over again to make sure we got it right. This sort of support is so crucial in the early days.

It turns out the damage was done and the pain continued even after we established breastfeeding. I remember talking to my neighbour and she said by around 3 weeks everything starts feeling normal again. She she was totally right. By the time BB was 3 weeks old I was starting to actually enjoy breastfeeding. The first few weeks I spent all day dreading the next feed. Hoping he would sleep a little longer.

The only relief I had was that BB fed super quickly. He literally would feed for no more than 5 minutes at a time. My milk flow was so fast he guzzled up the milk and filled up quickly.

16 weeks into our breastfeeding journey and I’m honestly enjoying it more than I thought I would. Ok, I’ll admit, I desperately want him to take a bottle (I’ve tried multiple brands and he’s refusing all of them). It’s my 30th birthday in 2 weeks and I’d like to celebrate a little! But if he doesn’t it’s no biggie.

After getting through those difficult weeks in the beginning I’ve thought of what tips I would give to a new mum who wants to breastfeed…

1. Make use of your time hospital going over breastfeeding positions and latching.
2. Do not go home until you feel comfortable feeding your baby.
3. Be prepared with nipple shields and lanolin nipple cream.
4. Use nipple cream before every feed. The Medela Purelan Lanolin Cream is amazing. I still carry it in my changing bag in case I have a day where I feel a little sore.
5. Get yourself a breastfeeding cover if you’re feeling a little nervous about feeding in public. My friend has the Milkscarf by Mamamoosh and it’s amazing (I always steal it when I’m with her!)
6. Your arms can get pretty achy so make sure you have a breastfeeding pillow to help support the baby during feeds.
7. Don’t leave the house until you feel ready. Don’t let anyone pressure you to go out.
8. Have a bottle of water within reach at all times. Breastfeeding makes you seriously thirsty, and you can’t produce liquid without drinking it.
9. Don’t let yourself get hungry. You are feeding your baby so you need to feed yourself too.
10. Look up your local breastfeeding support group.

BB is almost 4 months old so I can say for definite that I will reach my goal of 6 months of breastfeeding. Which I am extremely proud of. Until BB decides to take a bottle I will be stuck breastfeeding but you know what, I’m totally ok with that.

~A~

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