Your Breastfeeding Journey, Supported by Brookings Health System [Taylor Hanson]

Hi, my name is Taylor Hansen. So Ada is our daughter. She was born in March and she is now four months old. She is an adorable little peanut. She's a little bit on the smaller side. She loves to smile, likes tummy time, and she's just a cute little girl.

Why did you choose to breastfeed?

Why I chose to breastfeed, I think, mostly for the connection standpoint of that as well as the nutritional benefits, and so having that connection with her and as well as having that skin-to-skin time with her. She actually does still eat for quite a bit of time, but it's just a nice bonding moment for me and her. It's something that is unique to us and it is something where, nutritionally, I can help give her nutrients that she needs as well as...as she, you know, is building an immune system that can help her down the road as well.

Did the staff support your decision to breastfeed?

So I did choose to breastfeed and I think the nurses were very helpful to help get those first latches going, to help me set up some of the nursing positions, especially with a small, small newborn. Some of those were a lot different than maybe when I saw some of my friends nursing older babies. And so that was very helpful for, kind of, kicking off that breastfeeding journey and I was supported through all of that. My friends that have maybe older babies, nursing their babies in a certain way and with a newborn, especially a smaller newborn, as Ada was, it's hard to maybe get an ideal latch and things like that. So the nurses helped show some nursing positions that would be a little bit more optimal and easier for me to handle her, with being such a small newborn. And so that was really helpful.

Did you use the Baby Café Breastfeeding Support Group?

So I got referred to going to Baby Café because at Ada's two-week appointment she had not been gaining weight as well as they had hoped to see, not in an emergency type situation, but something that just kind of arose as a potential challenge down the road. And so we were referred to Baby Café and I ended up going. And at Baby Café, you can do...you can just hang out, you can talk to other new moms and you can ask questions from the nurses there. However, many moms choose to do a weigh-feed-weigh and it's where you can get your baby down to a clean diaper, weigh your baby, feed your baby and then weigh them again to see how much they transfer. And Ada had a challenge with transferring milk, so that was probably leading to some of that lower or slower weight gain at first. And so that was something where the nurses helped maybe with that latch a little bit more, to help her hopefully efficiently feed a little bit better. Unfortunately, Ada is a little bit more of a pokier eater and it's not necessarily because of the mechanics of the latch or different things, but every baby is different, every breastfeeding journey is different. So it is something that I still attend Baby Café. I still check in to see what her weight is, that she's growing according to her own growth curve.

How did Baby Café help you connect with other mothers?

Every mom might experience a different challenge and I think when you're a new mom, it can feel like your challenge is just so big and that, you know, it's come so easy to everybody else, why am I having this challenge? And I think connecting with other moms that might have their challenges too and you can relate to them, it's been very helpful. Another thing about Baby Café is I've worked really closely with Nancy and Alisha on on some of the challenges that I've had with breastfeeding or with Ada feeding well. And they've been very kind and very compassionate and caring towards my breastfeeding journey and have helped me find some different techniques or, you know, have you thought of this idea or maybe let's try this to try to get to a better standpoint. And so I think that's been really helpful because I've gone from breastfeeding to kind of nursing and pumping, to now I'm pumping when I go back to work and how can I do that efficiently? How can I do that as well as maintain that breastfeeding journey with Ada as well?

What's the benefit of talking to a breastfeeding expert instead of searching online?

There's a lot of misinformation out there, you know, especially moms that are in that postpartum state. You're kind of worried about things or have that anxiety. Postpartum anxiety can be very real and so when you're maybe facing a challenge, you can kind of fall into that Google search cycle, and so trying to mitigate that with real information, with good information is really important. So you don't throw in the towel on your breastfeeding journey because of one night where you're really scared that maybe they're not getting enough food or different things where you can actually work with a professional to understand maybe some of those behaviors a little bit better.

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