Brummy Mums in the spotlight for National Breastfeeding Week 2022
To celebrate National Breastfeeding Week, we’re sharing some of the stories from our fabulous Brummy Mums, who have highlighted their experiences, challenges and triumphs throughout their breastfeeding journeys.
Whether you’re a mum that breastfeeds, expresses, bottle feeds or a mixture of everything, we’re incredibly proud of our mums across our Women’s and Children’s hospitals for the courage they show for taking the next steps in parenthood.
Speaking to three of our Brummy Mums - Hannah, Liz and Laura - we explore their personal experiences with breastfeeding their babies and how they were able to navigate the hurdles that they encountered along the way.
Hannah, Mum of Baby Alf red:
“Breastfeeding isn’t as easy as it looks – you aren’t alone if you’re struggling.”
On Tuesday 21 September last year, Hannah gave birth to her first baby boy, Alfred 
weighing 8lbs 3oz at 5.07pm at our Women’s Hospital. Following the birth of baby Alfred, the new mum developed a challenging case of Mastitis, a condition that causes painful swelling and redness in one or both breasts following delivery.
To overcome this, Hannah gained the support of our Infant Feeding team, helping to reduce her pain so that she could continue breastfeeding despite the hurdles she encountered.
She said: “It’s all about your own comfort and seeking specialist support when you need it. There’s lots of information, support groups and peer feeding groups that you can attend to make breastfeeding easier – it's not as simple as it seems, and it does take a lot of perseverance.”
Hannah was in and out of the hospital with Mastitis for the first three months of Alfred’s life.
She added: “I think it’s important for people to know that my case was extreme - most mastitis cases you don’t end up in hospital, but that despite all of that it’s still possible to continue breastfeeding with the right support if you wish. Mastitis can make you very ill very quickly so if you suspect mastitis or a blocked duct then seek help immediately.”
Today, Hannah has been Mastitis-free for nine months, still breastfeeding baby Alfred and said: “I’ve learnt a lot as a first-time mum, and I’d still breastfeed if I were to have a second child, despite the challenges.”
Liz, Mum of Baby Niall and two-year-old Nevan
“I couldn’t believe how lovely the connection was – but I also couldn’t believe how difficult it was too.”
Liz, originally from King’s Heath, kindly spoke with us about the birth of her two boys Niall a
nd Nevan. She shared how she was able to breastfeed both boys once she had become comfortable with the support of our Women’s Hospital, her friends and her family.
She wanted to give a special thank you to Micky, from the home birth team and Becky from our Postnatal Care team.
Liz said: “I no longer have anxiety about feeding in public, there should be no hostility. I feed Niall everywhere and anywhere – I’ve even had restaurants offer me glasses of water when I’ve been breastfeeding which is really nice to see. I didn’t think I would be able to breast feed initially – I knew very little about it. There are support systems that you can access that will help you.”
Laura, Mum of Baby Margot and three-year-old Charlie
“You need to have a group of people around you who are supportive.”
Mum-of-two Laura talks about her challenging experience during her birth and breastfeeding journey with baby Margot, born early at 37 weeks in an emergency Caesarian section, weighing only 5lbs and 1 oz at our Women's Hospital.
At four weeks old, baby Margot developed Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) and Bronchiolitis, which was another hurdle that the family had to overcome and Margot ended up back in hospital. While at our Children’s Hospital, she was tube-fed and was always able to have expressed milk before finally back to breastfeeding when she was well again.
Laura said: “My husband was brilliant, he really helped me through the process of working towards being able to feed Margot the way that I wanted to. I also had a friend who was also breastfeeding around the same time as me, so it was really nice to be able to have that added supportive network.”
Are you a mum-to-be or a new mum experiencing challenges during breastfeeding? We invite you to attend our Virtual Antenatal Breastfeeding Workshops taking place every Friday.
You can learn more information about our free-to-attend courses here.