Wednesday 17 December 2014

Parent Craft Class 3: Feeding

This weeks session was all about breastfeeding. This is something that I have been debating with myself and Jimmy for a while now as I really do not like the idea of breastfeeding. Please do not get me wrong I am fully aware of all the benefits of breastfeeding but honestly feel it is not right for me. Jimmy has very strong opinions about this and we have argued about the subject loads. He feels like I should breastfeed as 'breast is best' but the thought of it honestly turns my stomach. I kept an open mind during this session and was pleased to find that I already knew a lot of the information that was offer. I have not 100% decided against breastfeeding, I may have a change of heart after the birth, but for now I am going to be a bottle-feeding Mum and I am proud of my choice because I know it's the right one for me. 

Anyway, back to class 3. The session started off with a quick recap from last week and tying up a few loose ends about labour and birth, there were a few questions about the birth process and we had a little a quick quiz about what we learnt over the previous two classes. I realised I had learnt loads and felt that I had a rough idea of what to expect when the time comes. I think I will be going in to hospital with a very open mind and just take it as it comes. I am not very high maintenance so I don't think a birth plan is really my style. 

We then moved on to breastfeeding with a true or false quiz consisting of 10 questions. We showed our answers by raising our hands when the midwife asked wether a statement on the board was true or false. I was really pleased that I managed to get 10/10 and felt pretty smug that Jimmy didn't really know much about it. 

We were showed various ways in which to hold the baby to get a good latch on the breast and I was surprised at the 'rugby ball' hold it looked a bit uncomfortable for baby but there were lots of ways I didn't know about. 

The midwife gave us all a frube and we were asked to try to eat it moving our heads in different ways to demonstrate the best ways to hold baby's head when feeding. First of all about half the room did not know what a frube was! I have encountered them before but they are pretty self explanatory if you have never seen one. One lady asked if they came in a soya version, my hospitality days flooded back to me and I found myself sighing loudly and rolling my eyes, but I think I got away with it. I was only frustrated at this question because I had just seen her put full fat milk in her tea 5 minutes ago! Somehow Jimmy managed to come home with a full pack of frubes after the midwife asked if anyone wanted another one!

We had a quick break and when we returned all the men were given a ballon. They were told to blow it up to the size of a breast. Well my boyfriend being the class clown blew up this bloody thing to maximum capacity. It was huge. We were then show on the ballon how to express milk and the technique used to stimulate milk flow. We were then told to practice on our own balloons, I daren't touch mine, I was sure it would pop in my face if I squeezed the end of it. Needless to say, I gave Jimmy a very disapproving look and called him a twat!

The midwife showed us lots of stuff related to breastfeeding including nipple shields, creams, pads, breast pumps and vitamins. We were told how each item worked and that we needed to watch what we eat and drink while breastfeeding because some foods can get into your milk supply and disrupt the baby's sleep. 

For the final exercise we were given an empty cup and asked to fill them with water to show the amounts of milk we thought a baby would take at 1-3 days, 7-10 days and up to 1 month. We could either work as a team or compete against each other. Jimmy and I decided to work together and we pretty much nailed it! We got the first two bang on but we underestimated on the up to 1 month. 

The amounts were tiny and I was shocked when the midwife said it could take up to 40 minutes for one feed and babies feed every hour. This was not the kind of thing I needed to hear and this was another one for my cons list. Jimmy and I argued in the car about breastfeeding on the way home, but after a while I think he is starting to get used to fact I intend to bottlefeed. We will see anyway...