Growing up, Nadine was surrounded by breastfeeding.
As one of the youngest of ten cousins, she had spent years watching her cousins and their partners navigate pregnancy, birth, breastfeeding and parenthood. Breastfeeding was simply something she saw happening around her — at home, in restaurants, at the park and at family gatherings.
By the time she became a mum herself, breastfeeding was the one thing she felt certain she wanted to do.
What she didn’t expect was just how difficult getting started could be.
Growing up with breastfeeding as the norm
Nadine’s experience of breastfeeding started long before she became a mum.
She had watched the women in her family breastfeed their babies for years, and all 15 of the children born before her son had been breastfed at some point.
“Since I was a teenager, I have seen my cousins breastfeed.”
Seeing breastfeeding so regularly meant that it never felt unusual to Nadine. It gave her a strong sense that breastfeeding was something she would be able to do when she had a baby of her own.
“I saw no other way to feed my future baby,” she says.
When she became pregnant, she prepared for breastfeeding, attending NCT courses, researching and even expressing colostrum antenatally. She also bought a breast pump.
But despite knowing that breastfeeding could be challenging, she still assumed she would get the hang of it fairly quickly.
“After all, it’s natural, right?”
A difficult start
Nadine’s son was born by emergency caesarean after he was found to be breech. After his birth, there was uncertainty about whether he had a soft palate problem, and he struggled to latch.
A feeding tube was introduced and formula was given while the situation was assessed.
For Nadine, it was a huge amount to take in.
She was recovering from a caesarean, her baby wasn’t breastfeeding as she had hoped, and her husband couldn’t stay overnight in hospital.
“I was changing nappies and sterilising pumping equipment while recovering from a caesarean,” she says. “In hindsight, I was on autopilot and I don’t know how I got through!”
Nadine used the Ardo Carum pump in hospital
Expressing became part of the journey
With the support of some of the midwives caring for her, Nadine continued expressing her milk.
A student midwife was the first person to suggest using an Ardo hospital-grade breast pump to help her establish her milk supply.
Nadine was able to provide her son with her colostrum and breast milk, although he was also given formula while they worked towards being able to go home.
Once home, Nadine continued expressing and quickly found that she was producing plenty of milk.
She was relieved to be able to give her son her breast milk, but she still hoped they would eventually be able to breastfeed directly.
So she kept going.
Nadine pumping at home
Finding their way to breastfeeding
With support from her family and local breastfeeding support charity Milk & You, Nadine continued expressing every day.
Eventually, she began trying to latch her son again, initially using nipple shields.
Then came a moment she had been waiting for.
“I cannot describe how overjoyed I was to see milk inside a nipple shield for the first time.”
It gave Nadine the encouragement she needed to keep going.
Twenty-eight days after her son was born, with the help of her mum, he finally latched.
After everything they had been through, it was an emotional milestone.
Nadine breastfeeding her toddler
18 months and counting
Nadine’s breastfeeding journey didn’t end there.
Eighteen months later, she and her son are still breastfeeding.
When her son started nursery and Nadine returned to work, she found that their breastfeeding relationship changed again. Their feeds became shorter but more frequent, particularly when they had spent time apart.
For Nadine, breastfeeding has become about much more than nutrition.
“I love that I’m still his comfort, but the truth is, he’s mine too.”
The importance of seeing breastfeeding
Looking back, Nadine believes that the example she saw growing up helped give her the confidence to persevere when breastfeeding didn’t come easily.
But she also knows that seeing breastfeeding wasn’t the only thing that helped her.
Her husband, family, friends, breastfeeding support and online communities all played a role.
Her family showed up in practical and emotional ways — from a cousin driving 40 miles to give her a manicure when she was just a week postpartum, to daily words of encouragement, advice, voice notes and video calls.
And, perhaps most importantly, there were snacks, hugs and reassurance.
Nadine now shares her own breastfeeding experiences because she knows that not everyone grows up surrounded by breastfeeding parents.
“I want to be that support or positive example for others.”
Her journey is a reminder that breastfeeding might be natural, but that doesn’t mean it is always easy. Sometimes it takes time, support, expressing, different approaches and a lot of perseverance to find what works for you and your baby.
You can start building your breastfeeding support circle with our free Ardo printable.
