Rebecca's Breastfeeding Journey

Kia Ora, I am Rebecca, Mum to two beautiful boys,
Isaac is 3 and a half and Thomas 13months.
After becoming pregnant with my first son I knew that
breastfeeding was something I wanted to do if I was
able and so I attended a wonderful antenatal
breastfeeding class at St George’s Hospital which I
found very informative and supportive. I wanted to
prepare myself as much as I could.

My breastfeeding journey began when my oldest son,
Isaac, arrived in January 2018. He was born at 38
weeks via elective caesarean due to some medical
issues and was in NICU for 2 weeks. Initially
breastfeeding was difficult, Isaac did not have a lot of
strength and so wasn’t able to feed at the breast for
sustained periods of time. I had a lot of nipple damage
and Isaac was found to have a tongue tie which was
snipped at 2 weeks old whilst we were still in NICU. I did
a lot of pumping whilst he was in hospital to try and build
a supply and also to feed him bottle top ups, we also
received some donor milk to supplement him. When he
came home he had oxygen prongs in his nose, again
adding to the difficulty of feeding. I was determined to
breastfeed him and after many struggles, tears, bottle
top ups of expressed milk and taking a course of
domperidone we were able to establish a very
successful breastfeeding journey and he fed until he
self-weaned just before his first birthday.

When I became pregnant with my second son, Thomas,
I always knew that if I was able, I would love to be able
to give back to NICU somehow. Thomas was also born
via elective caesarean, but at 39 weeks. He arrived
healthy and was a very keen breast feeder from the
beginning. He latched very soon after birth and I have
had absolutely no issues with feeding him, no nipple
damage and no supply issues. I was able to establish a
wonderful milk supply and began pumping my excess
milk whilst also exclusively feeding Thomas. I purchased
an amazing double electric breast pump from “More
Than Milk”. When Thomas was 6 months old, I
contacted the NICU milk bank to become a milk donor. I
have been donating my breast milk since. Thomas is still
breastfeeding and I have no plans to stop in the near
future.

My two breastfeeding journeys have been very different,
but both rewarding in their own unique ways. It has
become one of the most rewarding parts of motherhood
for me and something I am extremely thankful I am able
to experience.