Everything comes in 3’s!

I was absolutely blessed to have 3 healthy babies at Adelaide’s Ashford Hospital. With the wonderful support of midwives and staff I felt I had the ‘gist’ of breastfeeding 4 days after my discharge with each bub. But each baby also came with a new set of rules, a new preference in feeding positions and latching. It wasn’t until I got home that our feeding journey really began every time and, as it happens, in 3 major ways. Overcoming all odds, I was still fortunate enough to breastfeed until 10-11 months but only because I had formula to help me get through.

Bub #1: Tongue ties – OUCH! Anyone who’s breastfed a baby with a tongue tie is cringing right now. Ouch! It was not the feeding experience I had imagined when I was pregnant. No amount of nipple cream or shields was going to fix this, and I would dread each impending feed. Fortunately, my son was happy to take a bottle, so we included formula as part of his feeding journey. This gave me some ‘healing time’ until his tongue tie was treated. We continued to mix feed a combination of breast feeding and formula until he was 10 months old.

Bub #2: Milk Allergies After having my second son I expected breastfeeding to be difficult again. But wow, to begin with he was a breeze. We had no issues whatsoever until 4 weeks when my maternal instincts kicked in. He was struggling to gain weight and his constant vomiting had me, and his paediatricians, concerned. Enter, a milk allergy. While I was able to continue breastfeeding, this came with a set of conditions; no dairy or soy for me for the duration of breastfeeding. At this point I turned to formula to help me with his feeding journey. But with only 1 suitable formula on pharmacy shelves (and an international brand at that), a 2-tin restriction per purchase, and never any stock available it was abundantly obvious there was a demand for Aussie made formula.

Bub #3: Sleep issues After the birth of my third baby, I thought I had all the feeding hurdles under my belt, but within weeks I was exhausted. Overnight my daughter was waking hourly with colic and having 3 children under the age of 4 was taking its toll on my body. The exhaustion and stress of waking 6-7 times a night drained me of my milk supply. I quickly introduced formula, this time to help me and support my wellbeing. Supplementing with formula gave me a much-needed feeding break and allowed my husband to help with night feeds. Again, we continued to mix feed until she was nearly 12 months old.

Finding the balance between breastfeeding and formula. Formula helped relieve many of the feeding issues I faced along the way and gave me the opportunity to breastfeed as long as I did. And our feeding journey still isn’t over, with all 3 still on formula and milk drink supplements to this day!

My feeding journey was a straightforward and overwhelmingly positive experience... UNTIL maternity leave ended.

I was fortunate enough to have my mother, who was a midwife of 30 years, by my side throughout my pregnancies and for both of my births.

I was also part of the Midwifery Group Practice at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital; an incredible program which assigns a midwife to your family and provides one on one care both pre- and post-birth at home and in hospital. The support from both my own mother, and her colleagues at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital through the MGP, was truly a game-changer for my birth experience and subsequent breastfeeding journey.

I had always wanted to try to breastfeed, and to be honest, I hadn’t put much thought into an alternative. I had straightforward births with both my boys and was able to return home four hours after giving birth with the care and support of my midwives, mother and partner.

I remember day two after my first baby was born, my milk had come in and my nipples were cracked and bleeding. Breastfeeding was excruciatingly painful; my baby was hungry, and I was in tears.

My mother came over to offer some support and ended up going through a series of latching techniques with us - we were doing it all wrong! Having the immediate education and support she was able to give as a professional with many years of experience in the field (and Lansinoh!!) got us back on track. Having such supportive midwives around me, I truly put my trust in the village and followed their lead on latching and breast care. I was the student, and they were my teachers.

Breastfeeding came very naturally to me after this point, so I had very little use for formula…. UNTIL… maternity leave ended, and so did my breastfeeding journey.

I remember that five-and-a-half-month mark when it dawned on me that I needed to stop breastfeeding.

I resented having to go back to work and what that meant for me and by baby. My baby had never really had a bottle so inevitably refused to take formula. I remember two weeks before I had to go back to work, saying to my husband “I am leaving the house for the day and not coming back until he takes a bottle”.

Inevitably he got the message and I returned to work. I tried expressing at work and continuing to do night feeds, but it become too stressful for us both.

I loved breastfeeding and feel incredibly lucky that it was such a positive experience for me and my babies, but I also know that without the level of support and education that I received in the first crucial few days and weeks of their lives, that it could have been a very different story.

Added to which, formula gave me the freedom to return back to work and for my babies to continue to thrive – so I value how important a resource it is for women to have access to.