Breastfeeding Stories - Farzana

This is Farzana with her two beautiful children, Noah and Sarah.

These are her words.

My upbringing has taught me to make the most of what nature provides as far as possible so when my husband asked me whether I would breastfeed our first child when I was pregnant, the answer was a definite yes. 

My first recollection of breastfeeding was when my mum was feeding my youngest sibling eight years younger than me. Before my first child was born I attended a breastfeeding workshop with a lactation consultant which was the best thing I had ever done because it really prepared me for the journey ahead, especially for the challenges a new mum could face with feeding. So I had creams, a breast pump, cabbage leaves in the freezer for what was coming! And the cabbage leaves were so useful!! 

I was lucky that both my children and I made great teams for breastfeeding to work. We were blessed that we were able to get over the hurdles that were encountered with the help of the wonderful breastfeeding counsellors from Cuidiú. The Wednesday breastfeeding group (in Dublin) was one that I rarely missed and the support they provided for breastfeeding as well as parenting in general was priceless. For someone who had no close family members here, it meant the world. I was very blessed that even from far, both my mum and my dad supported me through because they were fondly reminded of both my grandmothers feeding their siblings. 

I recall vividly the home visit of my public health nurse after my first telling me about this liquid gold i.e. breastmilk. I was very lucky that the Cuidiú community I was part of helped me see breastfeeding as the most natural thing to do even when your baby is older than six months old and has teeth!! 

So we kept going with my son until I was pregnant with my daughter and had hyperemesis gravidarum and was heartbroken that our journey ended that way. I will never forget the Cuidiú lactation consultant who helped me make this decision (for me and my then both my babies) and said you need a hug now and that was exactly what I needed, a shoulder to cry on before the next adventure. 

My brave son who was eighteen months old helped me in his own way and my daughter’s breastfeeding journey was a smooth one. She is still quite attached to her milkies and always looks for them at night even if our breastfeeding journey ended five months ago!

The best things about breastfeeding for me was the amazing power this liquid gold has - to make a baby grow only by having this exclusively for six months! Added to that is the fact that my nights with my two babies were relatively easy because I could feed them while lying down and we could go back to sleep. 

There is also the fact that the mother’s body can tell when the baby isn’t well and how the breast milk can provided specific antibodies to help the child. The science behind breast milk is utterly fascinating. And there is also all the extras like using breast milk for cradle cap, conjunctivitis or when breast milk is all a child can have when he/she is unwell. 

Above all else, I will cherish the special bond that breastfeeding my two babies has created and how they would always cuddle and relax in my arms for such a wide range of reasons - food, comfort, for a fresh start when they came back from crèche, when they were ill, after a fall, when they are tired, during a leap, in bedtime routine ... and I could add on so much more. 

I loved their little hands playing while feeding and gazing into their eyes. 

What a lovely experience it was and I wouldn’t change a thing if I had to do it all over.