The Challenges of Nursing

Perinatal Wellbeing - The Podcast about Prenatal, Pregnancy & Postpartum Health

Content Warning: In this episode we are discussing challenges with nursing and grief and trauma that can be associated with that. I use the word breastfeeding when discussing my own story and I continue to work towards more inclusive language including using either nursing, chest feeding or body feeding.

Let’s open up the conversation around nursing! There are so many stories of parents struggling to get started with nursing, not being able to nurse for as long as they want to, or at all and this can bring up extreme shame and guilt and have a very negative impact on a parent’s mental health. And there are also parents that do nurse because they physically can however, they struggle mentally and feel pressure to continue nursing even when they feel they don’t want to or can’t cope. And nursing can be a lovely journey for so many parents and then they experience a lot of grief when they decide to stop nursing or baby is ready to wean. And let’s not forget the shame and confusing messages we hear about nursing! It can be a rollercoaster of an experience.

This episode is simply an introduction to this topic, to open up the discussion and is by no means an exhaustive exploration of all the challenges that various people face when trying to feed their babies. I open the discussion with my story of breastfeeding and acknowledge that this is only one type of story out there. I am not a lactation consultant, or feeding expert so please seek out help if you feel you are experiencing challenges with feeding your baby. We will have more guests on the podcast to discuss other perspectives and stories around this topic.

Highlights:

3:55 My Story with breastfeeding

6:35 Guilt and Shame

13:27 We’re not born knowing how to breastfeed
14:55 Judgement from others

17:55 Potential challenges during breastfeeding

22:13 Experiencing a grief or trauma wound from challenges with breastfeeding

23:47 How do we cope?

Resources:

Support for Transgender and Non-Binary Parents https://www.llli.org/breastfeeding-info/transgender-non-binary-parents/

You can find us at www.perinatalwellbeing.ca on Instagram @perinatalwellbeing_ontario or by email [e-mail]

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