I have stumble on the CAPPA website and there is a course that you can do long distance called Lactation Educator. I am so excited! I have wanted to start a breastfeeding drop in group once a month but so far it is just a thought. I also want to start a breastfeeding class too.
When I was in our first prenatal group in Edmonton, they also had breastfeeding information class too. The prenatal instructor urged our group to attend. My thought was, "Why do I need to go? Why do they need to have a class on it? My sister breastfed her child with ease, my mom never had any issues with any of us, so why did I need to go to a class. Breastfeeding is natural and easy right?" WOW WAS I WRONG! Sure my sister and many friends of mine breastfed with ease but I had problems with it. I felt inadequate, that my baby didn't want me, I wasn't good enough, and the list went on and on. When I was in the hospital the nurse didn't help me until 12 hours after my baby was born. Then when he wouldn't latch she brought in the ultimate pump. I pumped each side for 15 minutes and looked at this minimal amount of liquid that was at the bottom of the jar and cried. I told my husband, " That's it! That's all there is in me?" He held me as I cried and then when the nurse came it she said, " Wow! You pumped lots of colostrum." I never knew anything about colostrum and really I was completely uneducated about breastfeeding in general. I left the hospital the next day. I still couldn't latch my baby, no matter how hard I tried and I was a mess. However they did refer me to a lactation consultant and I had something to look forward to.
Looking back I should have taken that 2 hour class on breastfeeding. I would have been more educated and aware of what can happen. Breastfeeding information is just as important as prenatal information. Becoming a new mother is hard enough with lack of sleep, hormones raging, everyone telling what you are or are not doing 'right' and the problems with breastfeeding can make you just want to throw your hands up in the air and give up. I know how valuable help was to me when I was struggling with breastfeeding. I guarantee you that I would have given up if I had not recieved help from a lactation consultant or family and friends. I know that if the help wasn't there I would have stopped because he would have lost weight and that would have been my deciding factor. I found out later about the Le Leche League meeting in Edmonton but at that point in time I was successfully Breastfeeding my son.
There are no drop in groups in Quesnel and that is unfortunate. There is Buddy up for Breastfeeding where you can call someone for information or help. However I have not heard how well that group is doing. If new mothers are even using it. If you are reading this and from Quesnel and have used this program it would be nice to know what you thought about it. If you had problems, didn't use it, then please tell me why. If you are reading this and are struggling with breastfeeding please reach out and call this program. There are other mothers who want to help.
In this long, detailed, personal experience is the reason why I want to become a lactation educator. I want to inform new mothers and their partners of what to expect when breastfeeding your new baby. I want to offer a class I didn't think was necessary and found out the hard way that it does help. I want to support women with breastfeeding and their issues, if any, and point them to local resources for help.
It can be hard but it does get much easier. The few weeks of getting through the mess is worth every moment ahead of you.
~Cheers
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