Breastfeeding support services

[Peachee]

Hi,
I hope someone can help.
I would really like to breastfeed my baby due in October and after the experience I had previously it is likely I will need lots of support.
My nipples are flat and my baby struggled to latch to begin with and became so hungry and distressed it all became a very unhappy experience for us all as he would scream and scream.
I know there are lots of options and ways in which breastfeeding can be a success with the use of supplement tubes that can be attached to the nipple and shields etc to encourage suckling however I really I completely feel out of my depth and wouldn’t know where to start.
Where do I go for help and support.. I understand that the message is breast is best but I really want to be prepared and know the services available should I need some help this time as I feel so let down last time and resorted in ff.
Also I think help with things like harvesting my milk etc would be good too.
Anything anyone can offer will be gratefully recieved.

Do your nipples stay flat when you've been stimulated or fed?

I have sorta flatish nipples and used to pinch the aereola to make something for bubs to latch on to - took lots of practice.

I had help from the midwives at hospital and a local breastfeeding group (could you ask any other local mums if you have one?).

There are also lactation consultants that you can engage with privately or be referred to.

La leche league and Kelly's mom websites are really useful sources of info.

There's also the national breastfeedig helpline which has a phone number you can ring...

But it's tough and there probably isn't enough support out there as we'd like!

Practice and persistence!

Thanks @physicskate that is so helpful. Yes the midwife pinched mine when he was first born to help and it worked brilliantly unfortunately I didn’t know what she had done at the time and looking back it all makes sense. Maybe that would be an option for me.. did you continue to breastfeed and did you need to keep pinching them all the time from then on? I can’t understand how the shells or shields would help because the raised bit in the middle of my nipple (I don’t know what it’s called) is quite small so does not fill the shields and I would have thought the baby would just be sucking on the plastic. Maybe I need to look into lactation consultants and other sources of information.. thanks again for your post xx

I breastfed dd until she was 15 months (she wouldn't take a bottle and still doesn't drink cow's milk now that she's 2!!)😖.

I had to pinch them for probably 4 weeks or so. Can't remember exactly. Might have been a bit longer. Then she started patching and unlatching herself (that was a fun game - not).

Planning on feeding this one too - I'm 39 weeks.

But yeah getting the latch down was tricky in the early days. Watch some YouTube videos too. But trying to make the 'nipple' stand up a bit by pinching near it (like you would when expressing by hand) worked for me but may not be for everyone!

I would contact your local la leache league before baby. They should be doing regular zoom support and welcome bumps too :) Breast feed network may also be doing same in your area :)

I have sort of flat nipples and found it hard to breastfeed. I pumped a lot, kept latching and eventually by 4 months DDs was strong enough to just sort her self out. She also had a bit of tongue tie that we never sorted out but I was never convinced that was the issue. I had an enormous amount of support from breastfeeding groups and booked a private consultant. The shields never worked for us , and I couldn't be bothered with the finger syringe feeding thing. You'll get there eventually but I wonder whether I'd go through all that hassle again when number 2 comes along but I'm still feeding 1 at 18 months!

@Tryingtobehelpfulmama I know what you mean I am really toying with the idea as I have a 15 month old who will be just under 2 when the baby arrives and I’m wondering whether struggling to juggle everything will take too much of a toll on my emotional health. Similarly I want to do the best for the baby as we had all sorts of tummy problems whilst he got used to it and it made me feel so guilty that I couldn’t breastfeed. I think I will need to suck it and see and try and encourage it when myself and the baby are settled with a bit of nipple pinching supplemented with formula feeding.