Saw someone today in town

[BertieBottlesOfMulledWine]

I bumped into a mum in town today who was having trouble feeding her (4 day old!) baby and had bought a bottle of milk to feed him with, but she looked utterly exhausted and on the verge of tears. She asked my friend for advice as my friend was breastfeeding her baby, and I joined in as I'm a peer supporter. By sheer coincidence the weekly breastfeeding cafe was on at the same time and I directed her to that, but I really didn't know enough to help her with her problem and I can't stop thinking about it. She was so upset about the bottle, she kept saying she breastfed her DC1 and had no problems so why was she having problems now? I said that it's not the end of the world if he did have some formula and she was doing really well, but I don't know that I did enough.

If you are reading you are doing fab and PLEASE go to the other group I mentioned on Friday :)

[tiktok]

:( :(

The place for four-day postnatal mothers is snuggled up at home being waited on and cared for tenderly by her nearest and dearest. I know this is not always possible, sadly.

Best source of support at this stage (esp if there is a real problem) should be the community midwife - the idea of groups might be a bit overwhelming unless she is already used to them from previous experiences (one good reason for women to visit them antenatally!).

She'd be on my mind, too, Bertie - can you text her and say you've been thinking about her?

[BertieBottlesOfMulledWine]

No, I've never met her before and didn't get her number. When I directed her to the children's centre where the group is held she said she knew it so hopefully she might go along. There is a local bf support helpline run by the children's centre (volunteer peer support led) but I'd forgotten to bring the little cards with the number on with me, but I did say to ask her midwife so possibly she will be able to help and/or direct her to the helpline.