Shining a light on the physical and emotional challenges that may arise. Validating what many women go through but don’t dare to say.
Everyone knows that breastfeeding is the natural way mammals feed their young. A mother’s body is wonderfully designed to conceive, gestate, give birth, and of course, produce the perfect food for her baby — adapting in both composition and quantity to the baby’s needs at every stage.
Breast milk not only contains essential nutrients like fats, proteins, carbohydrates, water, and vitamins, but also other key components for the baby’s immune development. It’s a living fluid, changing and evolving with the baby’s age, time of day, and even health status. No formula created in a lab can replicate this adaptive capacity or immune power.
But beyond its nutritional function, breastfeeding plays a fundamental role: the emotional one.
When a baby feeds directly at the breast (not just from pumped milk), a beautiful hormonal dance between mother and baby is triggered. Oxytocin, known as the “love hormone,” facilitates milk letdown and strengthens the emotional bond. It drives us to protect and nurture, and makes our babies recognize us, seek us out, and need us.
Nursing, then, is much more than eating.
NURSING = MOTHER + LOVING
Now, this stage isn’t always lived with joy and ease. In some cases —especially for first-time mothers— doubts may arise. Maybe the birth was difficult, maybe there’s pain while nursing, or the baby isn’t gaining weight as expected. All of this can lead to frustration and discouragement.
It’s also important to know that babies need constant contact with their mother: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Leaving the baby in a crib, stroller, or in someone else’s arms can trigger their alert instinct (you’ve probably heard that “cribs have spikes”), and they may express it by crying or seeking to return to that safe space — their mother’s chest.
In these situations, an emotional conflict can appear: the deep desire to care for and feed your baby, clashing with the difficulties that make it hard to do so as you’d wish.
If you feel this way, you are not alone. Reaching out as early as possible to a certified lactation consultant (IBCLC) can make a huge difference. She can help answer your questions, overcome obstacles, and support you in having a satisfying breastfeeding experience. And if she can come to your home, you’ll feel more relaxed and comfortable, and the consultant will be able to better observe how you breastfeed in different moments.
It’s also important to ask for help from your family or close circle so they can take care of everything not directly related to breastfeeding — like handling groceries, meals, cleaning, or baby care (diapers, baths, clothes, rocking, sleeping) — so you can rest and recover from birth, which may be one of the most powerful experiences of your life.
In summary, here are three key points to experience this stage with confidence and success:
- Set realistic expectations.
- Learn about your baby’s normal behavior at different growth stages.
- Rely on the support of a certified IBCLC lactation consultant.
Shall we talk?
