Breastfeeding is easy... or is it?

Picture courtesy of freedigitalphotos.net.  Gambar ini tidak bermaksud lucah
dan sama sekali tak bermaksud merendahkan wanita. 

Seriously, how easy or successful breastfeeding is, varies for individuals.  Setiap individu mengalami pengalaman dan pandangan berbeza tentang breastfeeding.  Pengalaman aku sendiri breastfeeding adalah sesuatu yang pahit dan penuh air mata pada mulanya.  But look now, hasil dari kegigigahan aku nak bagi anak yang terbaik dah semakin berhasil.  Sekarang kalau Amani tak dapat breastfeed, dia yang berair mata.  

If I can share some information with new mothers out there, I mean I am no expert.  Tapi kadang- kadang sedih bila tengok ibu- ibu baru yang terdiri dari kawan- kawan dan tak tahu kat mana nak refer to, atau tak sure if they got it right the first time.  Nobody is perfect the first time, but how hard we try to make it work after that is what matters most.  Breastfeeding technique is not a gift you earned from birth, it comes with experience and practices.  So here goes some information,

1.  What every new mother or any mother who decided to breastfeed the first time should do is to read, read and read.  Read about the benefit of breastmilk, problems associated with breastfeeding, nutritions required to breastfeed.  These are so that you are mentally prepared for the challenges, and will be able to support your decision soon.  For some, it went really well.  Tapi ada ibu- ibu yang dilanda masalah seperti inverted nipples, tersalah teknik sampai terluka dan terkena jangkitan mastitis.  

2.  Get support from your husband, parents, mother in law.  Aku walaupun dapat approval dari suami tapi tak dapat support sepenuhnya.  Contohnya, husband tak suka aku breastfeed dalam kereta kalau berhenti kat traffic light, atau di restaurant.  Unfair, right?  But I am doing my best to make him understand.  

I definitely didn't get support from my own mother because she 'pitied' my baby for crying while I struggled to establish breastfeeding.  

3. Invest in a good breastpump.  There is a breastpump that suits every need.  A workaholic, a busy mother, a stay home mother, any type of mother.  There's Medela, Spectra, Avent and many more.  Google them.  Read reviews on these breastpump.  If possible, visit stores that sell them and get professional advice.  

4.  One thing a new mother should know - not everyone is blessed with milk from the beginning.  It is a normal situation to produce 'colostrum' for the first 3 days.  Lepas hari ke tiga baru lah susu keluar.  A newborn baby isn't that hungry anyway, so don't go rushing into formula yet!  God had given just enough for the baby to drink.  After all if you give up so early, you won't be able to establish breastfeeding.  

5.  Don't stress out.  That's what I did, I stressed out too much.  I was too pressured into giving my baby breastmilk that I cried and cried.  It didn't help.  Lagi ko stress, lagi takde susu Bedah....

6.  Give, give, give and give.  Masa permulaan tula nak bagi anak menyusu bila lapar.  Untuk establish supply yang baik.  Tapi make sure baby tak tertidur waktu menyusu semata- mata untuk comfort.  Make sure suction berlaku untuk activate kilang susu anda.... 

7.  Eat veges, fruits (longan is a good milk booster), and balanced diet.  Drink a lot of warm water too.  Coffee doesn't count, honey hehehe.  (Guiltyyy!!!).  Kalau boleh stay off jamu dan benda- benda panas.  

8.  Related to no.3 above, if you decide to use the breastpump, kalau boleh tunggu hingga selepas 2 minggu.  Iaitu selepas breastfeeding is successfully established.  Tapi bagi ibu- ibu yang bermasalah dari awal, dan jika anda mempunyai breastpump yang berkualiti dan bagus (seperti Medela Freestyle yang ada 'double suction'), breastpump anda boleh digunakan untuk membantu simulation.  Aku buat macam ni, semasa anak ada masalah menyusu aku akan pump setiap 3 jam.  

9.  Jangan la terpengaruh dengan kata- kata orang tua bahawa sebelah kiri 'air' dan sebelah kanan 'nasi'.  Bagi bergilir- gilir.  Memang biasa anak akan prefer one side to the other, and the side which is inactive will produce very little milk (in my case only 1 oz for every pumping session).  Tapi still, cuba alternate.  Katakan anak masa previous session dah menyusu sebelah kanan, the next session bagi sebelah kiri pulak.  Dan make sure anak dapat the 'hind milk'.  (Susu ada 2 bahagian, yang mula keluar dan cair is fore milk dan yang pekat sikit ialah 'hind milk'.  Foremilk is typically lower in fat).  

10.  Dan akhirnya, ketahui dimana anda boleh mendapatkan bantuan dan nasihat.  Know the community, know the breastfeeding mom around you!  There are lactation specialist in Malaysia which you can google.  There are forums related to breastfeeding, for example www.susuibu.com.  Macam- macam ada... Paling loyar sekali jika anda benar- benar bermasalah, visit klinik kerajaan.  Mereka adalah sangat supportive tentang breastfeeding. Tanya kawan- kawan seperti saya pun boleh, InsyaAllah saya akan share apa maklumat yang ada. 

Hopefully the information above dapat membantu rakan- rakan ye...