I had real problems establishing breastfeeding. DS was delivered by ventouse, latch was bad, he wanted to suckle constantly. My nipples were bleeding before I left hospital.
I got a lot of 1:1 care as I had booked an amenity room.
In general the individual help was great but I discharged myself as soon as I could as I felt I was getting such mixed advice about breastfeeding and that it was just confusing me.
I gave birth at 02:00 and then I did ask/allow the auxilliary nurse to give DS some formula at about 23:00 having fed and fed him and already in pain with no sign of him settling. He had a little more in the morning and once or twice after we got home. It wasn't my preference but the only way I could see to get through.
At home DH and my Mum supported me as best they could. Actually DH was the only one who could get DS to latch at all. He was up with me for every feed and I started to panic about what would happen when he returned to work.
I had a wonderful community mw who tried her best to help but on the day I was due to be discharged from mw care a different mw visited and I felt unable to communicate my issues properly to him.
On Day 17 I was at the point of giving up, crying with agony at every feed, nipples bleeding and feeling totally inadequate. I went to see my usual mw at the GP surgery and she referred me to the bf counsellor at the hospital. I was aware of their existance but the idea of having to go out somewhere in the car was overwhelming so I hadn't self-referred (seems like madness now but I was very tired and I really should have asked for a home visit (would have been worth the small charge they make). Knowing it was my last chance I decided that I had to go. That appointment changed everything. The bf counsellor put the latch problem down to the ventouse and recommended a cranial osteopath. She also showed me to use the nipple shields and where to get ones that fitted and told me to go to my GP to discuss treatment for mastitis.
I cried with happiness and relief when I did the first feed at home after the appointment!
It took another 6 - 8 weeks to get to the point of not needing nipple shields and in the end breastfed DS for 16 months and enjoyed it! I was never a confident breastfeeder - I ended up staying at home a lot because I could only feed DS in certain positions. I hope I will be able to do something about that this time because I won't be able to do that with a toddler as well.
HCarra - don't worry about 1st trimester soreness, it tends to pass in a few weeks.