Breastfeeding Support in Freshwater: What an Appointment Involves

The practical version, because new parents do not have time for anything else.

First, who to see. For a supply or feeding problem, an IBCLC lactation consultant who will watch a full feed — that is where the answer usually is. Your child health nurse. And the Australian Breastfeeding Association helpline, 1800 686 268, which is free and answers at three in the morning. We are not a substitute for any of those and we will say so if you have not seen them.

Straight to a doctor if the baby is not gaining weight, is feeding poorly or unusually sleepy, or has fewer wet nappies than expected; or if you have a fever, a hot painful red patch on the breast, or feel generally unwell. A fever in a baby under three months goes to an emergency department.

What an appointment here is like. Bring the baby. Genuinely — the room is set up for it, you can feed mid-appointment, and if the whole thing has to stop for twenty minutes that is normal rather than awkward. Treatment is for you: the exhaustion, the neck and shoulders of someone who has been holding a baby in one position for six weeks, the low back, and sleep in whatever fragments are available.

What we will not tell you is that needling will produce more milk. The evidence does not support that claim and we are not going to make it.

Worth knowing about the evenings. Supply looks lowest in the late afternoon and evening, and a baby feeding almost continuously then is normal rather than a sign that anything has gone wrong. A lot of people stop at that point convinced they have run out. Whether you continue is your decision entirely, and there is no wrong answer — just make it with accurate information rather than at nine at night on day four.

Freshwater is ten streets from Balgowlah and about twenty from Manly, which matters when leaving the house has become a logistical exercise. Perinatal anxiety and low mood are common and treatable — PANDA is 1300 726 306, and please raise it with your GP or child health nurse.