Can you think back to prior to your daughter's birth, what did you know about breastfeeding at that time?
Just from personal, well from experience of my mother and relatives who had all breastfed, just assumed it would be easy and that's what I would do…
So you come…
…and that.
…from a breastfeeding family?
Yeah uh-huh, and I suppose I had read a lot about how important breastfeeding is I did a lot of research in mental illness and a lot of the studies that I had read were to do with neuronal development developments so I knew about prostaglandins and the importance of breastfeeding so I was determined that I would breastfeed anyway.
When you say from your mother did you see her feeding siblings?
Yeah my, she fed, I saw her feeding my youngest brother.
Right, and are you the oldest in the family?
Yeah.
Yeah, do you remember much about that?
About her breastfeeding? Yeah I remember her feeding him I remember seeing her feeding him, I remember when she was pregnant with him and then I remember seeing her feeding him, yeah and it being a nice experience, yes yeah.
Have you talked to her about breastfeeding?
Yeah all the time, yeah, when we were when I was starting to breastfeed my daughter and just my experiences all along the way as with all aspects of the babies I sort of spoke to my mum about them yeah, yeah.
And you said aunts as well, you've seen aunts doing it?
Just, I can't remember exactly who in the family, but I just remember always being surrounded by someone, more often breastfeeders than bottlefeeders, just always being aware that was.
So you always assumed that you would breastfeed?
Yeah, yeah.
Yeah you didn't have to make a conscious decision about it?
No I just always assumed that I would and I was at, maybe anti-bottle feeding…
Oh.
…so.
Why?
Just because I always thought 'well breast is best' and for all the reasons that it was the bonding and, my mum had also always spoken about how she felt she really missed out with me because I was born early and she, I was in an incubator for about six months so she couldn't breastfeed me and she found that really difficult so I don't know if that, you know, would've probably made me think, 'Well I really want to do that for the bonding and all the rest of it'. |
