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Hey Lovelies,

We all know how important Exclusive Breastfeeding (EBF) is to both mothers and their newborns  but research has shown that there are still challenges. According to the NDHS, only 17 percent of babies in Nigeria are exclusively breastfed and this is really low compared to Ghana and other African countries. Remember when I shared my breastfeeding story here, it is evident that there are numerous challenges apart from those mentioned in the post; either the mother may not have have been been taught on how to prepare herself for breastfeeding or the health workers are not prepared to assist the new mom breastfeed or so many other hiccups.

During the last Breastfeeding week celebration (August 01- 07, 2015) I remember tweeting at Sisi Yemmie to share her story since she had just put to bed and it took her a while to pen her experience and now that she has finally shared her story on her blog, I’ll be sharing a little part of her story here too. According to her, she wasn’t properly informed, the milk wasn’t coming out, it was a painful experience and the nurses didn’t help matters. At the end of the day, she introduced the bottle and she couldn’t exclusively breastfeed her baby as she really wanted to.

Stories like hers are not unusual in this environment. Breastfeeding is definitely not for the faint hearted and can be made easier with lots of support from the nurses (health workers), family and the mother. If the mother is not in a comfortable state of mind, the breast milk may not come, the mother is unhappy, the baby is unhappy and EBF is difficult to achieve.

And according to her, after about two months, she started breastfeeding. In her post, Sisi yemmie also highlighted tips on producing more breastmilk and they are:

Eating healthy; I’ll add eat more servings because breastfeeding sorts of drains the mother. It is definitely an energy drainer.

Stay Hydrated: I agree, liquids, more liquids…semi liquid is also very helpful and especially when it is warm.

Warm baths: This worked for me too. I suggest you take warm baths morning and nights and breastfeed soon after.

I’ll also add here that if the new mom is calm and comfortable and the baby is put on the nipple frequently the higher the probability for milk to flow. The right environment is usually important for mothers to succeed.

Share your story! we are waiting to hear yours.