On Thursday night I attended my second ever LLL meeting. I walked in with two questions, but left with so much more knowledge than I thought I could get. I've only been doing the "mom thing" for four months now, but I've researched and experienced so much with breastfeeding than I ignorantly thought I knew everything there was to know.
Uh... no. This week's meeting was about how your birth experiences could affect breastfeeding. It seemed like it would be a waste of my time, but I'm so glad I was there. For my next baby, I'll do even MORE research regarding vaccinations, the newborn screener, the eye drops, the bath, suctioning... I mean, there's so much I just assumed EVERYBODY did, but I learned that it's okay, and might actually be BETTER for you to not bathe your newborn immediately. When I thought about it and looked back on my birth experience, I can honestly say Addie wasn't that bloody or dirty having just popped out of me. I could totally see how she would have been fine without bathing. As it was, I missed out on the first two hours of her life.
I love these meetings so much, and I really want to be an advocate for breastfeeding because I truly believe it is the best choice for your baby. So many moms don't have the support system to begin or continue breastfeeding and they struggle so much before ultimately throwing in the towel. I want to be the cheerleader telling them they CAN do it (bearing no medical reasons why they shouldn't or the fact that they just don't want to. Hey, it IS their choice...) and help them every step of the way. After my first LLL meeting in January, I left with such a great feeling thinking I could really help people. I'd love to become a lactation consultant, so I started looking into the certification tonight. It's much more intensive than I thought it was, and I don't know if I have the time or means to obtain it. However, I do want to become more active in LLL, so next month (first Thursday in April) I'll ask the leaders for some suggestions as to how I can become more involved.
Can't wait!!
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