Black Breastfeeding Week
This week is Black Breastfeeding Week and my beautiful friend Nicole generously allowed me to share her breastfeeding journey. Nicole is a little piece of magic walking this Earth. She personifies kindness and generosity, and is steadfast in her support of women and mothers. She is also a badass business woman running multiple companies that educate, empower and encourage women. You can follow her at TheSweetYogini.
This is Nicole’s story:
I had no idea how hard Breastfeeding would be! I had heard the initiation could be challenging for some, but it really kicked my ass and, after a beautiful and empowering Birth, I needed TONS is support to learn how to feed my baby without pain.
I had issues with latch from the get-go — hello, flat nipples! And a wicked, hallucinatory bout of mastitis a few weeks in due to exhaustion. My husband was very supportive, but folks around me who saw me struggling offered a kind of support that I found unhelpful: “just give him formula.” Well, the problem was not how much milk he was getting or a low supply, so that solution really frustrated me, as I needed other ideas to make feeding less painful.
My mother, who breastfed all three of her daughters for a total of more than eight years as a more than full time professional (!!!), couldn’t stand to see me suffering while feeding and told me to try formula/ a bottle… I was stubborn (Taurus AF), determined to EBF my baby and I reached out for help. It turns out, as “natural” as it was for me to birth my baby, Breastfeeding was not coming naturally, and the support of Lactation professionals & encouragement of my man turned things around! I got guidance on how to improve my latch, positioning and how to hand express.
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I am grateful for the PRIVILEGE I had to Birth out of hospital, where I had midwives who supported ME Breastfeeding, as many black women who Birth in hospital are facing racial bias by Lactation professionals and are not met with the same assumptions about breastfeeding.
We also must remember the WHY around the disparity between white and black women’s Breastfeeding numbers. Historically, slaves were wet nurses for white babies… let that sink in, then imagine how that might “color” our association to Breastfeeding.
Speaking of color, one strong memory from those early days was making pink milk on Valentine’s Day. I pumped, and bc my nipples were cracked, the milk was blood tinged! It was brutal, but I was determined to continue. After about three weeks, nipples were healed (baby should have a big WIDE latch around areola, learned that lesson the hard way)and the feeding greatly improved! I was able to feed my first-born until he was almost two, but had to stop as I was 7 months pregnant and the pain was too much!
Pictured here is my second born, also crazy beginning to our BF journey — same flat nipples! But, she had an undiagnosed lip tie which we found out about her three-year Dentist appt. This explained why bf was never 100% comfortable for us, and it should be painless if there are no issues. She breastfed for 3 & 1/4 years!
By the end I was beyond done, it is a huge sacrifice to EBF (I can count the number of bottles they both took on two hands), but I am so deeply grateful to have done it! The cozy cuddles, snuggles, connection, heart beats mingling, skin to skin, chats, reconnecting, laughs, tears, nourishing..it is our unique bonded beginning. So, thank you to Roza & Kim, my MIL Deb for the plugged duct massage (we reached a whole new level after she did what I couldn’t! Hand expressing and massaging my engorged to honeydew melon sized boobs!), my Ma for setting the example and the hubs for always believing in me and creating the supportive environment for me to breastfeed exclusively for more than five years. Grateful 🙏🏾
To learn more about Black Breastfeeding Week click here: Love On Top
Originally published at KidsKillCoolness.
