So you are in the plane and the plane is taxi’ing out to the end of the runway. The plane is turning around and revvings its engines getting ready for the take-off. Now is the time that you feed the baby!

Timing is the key

Its a bit like sucking on a barley sugar really. We do it at that moment to relieve the pressure on our ears. Not only does the baby feel pressure on their ears at the time of lift-off but they also suffer stress because they feel pain but don’t know what it is or where it is coming from.

So the baby will suckle and let them continue during this time until the plane has finished its climb.

I have seen parents on planes that have been told to feed the baby during take-off, so they feed the baby as soon as they sit down. Then by the time they make it out to the runway, the milk is finished and they baby cries all the way through the ascent, and then on through the flight as well. Get the timing right and don’t start feeding until you hit the runway!

Coming down at the other end is the same, although the descent is a lot slower and so it is difficult to get the timing right as the baby may not be able to suckle for long enough before you land.

The basic start point for descent is when your ears first pop then it is time to start feeding the baby. Cross your fingers and toes and hope that the plane has landed before the milk runs out.

It is a terrible shock to the breasts when you first start to feed. Especially when you didn’t know that you were supposed to put cream on them for months before you have the baby. And even if you did then the re is no guarantee that it isn’t going to hurt like sh#$%^&t.

They hurt so much

They hurt so much.

Mine were bleeding badly for my first child and I was disappointed in myself when I had to change to the bottle. My breasts still had milk in them for weeks after. I got to thinking, why is it that when we make a decision to change from breast to bottle that it is a final decision? Everyone says ‘Oh no, don’t go to the bottle. It is best for baby to be breast fed’.

Well, I am the one with the sore tits! So I devised a new theory for all new mothers to try out. I am standing by it and I believe that it will work!

TAKE A DAY OFF!

That’s it! Did you get excited at the thought?

I figure, if the milk is there for weeks after then why not take a darn day off! Give your poor breasts a rest! Take a break and be kind to yourself!

The baby needs a well and happy mother more than they need the breast. The baby has already had its colustrum in the first three days of being born. Go easy on yourself and give yourself a break.

Medicate your breasts and try to make them better. Perhaps try the baby back on your breasts after you have had a three day break. You don’t lose your milk, it will still be there believe me! I know the amount of hot showers it takes to relieve the pressure of excess milk!

Test yourself out having a day or two off. Be a wise mother and believe in yourself! You know what the best thing is to do! Remember how confident you were before you had the baby! Remember that person now and be yourself! You have not lost your identity because you are that baby’s mother, you are still a person too.

Take care of yourself!

You have about 6 weeks after you stop feeding a baby to change your mind about not breast-feeding. In order to get the baby off the bottle to go back to full-time feeding you will need to have the baby suckle more to increase your milk flow.

Don’t rush!

Patience!

It will happen.

I have just watched a show on ABC Four Corners about Fistula. I thought that I had a bad life but I have finally found someone who has had a worse time than me. There was a girl that was forced to marry at 12. Her name was Uberta. Uberta ran away because she didn’t want to be married.

Her father beat her and she was married off again only to run away once more. The fourth time her husband got her pregnant and so Uberta stayed with him. There were problems during labour. You see, they don’t go to hospital in Ethiopia. They have their babies in the village. Sometimes the baby doesn’t come on the first day. Nor the second or third day. Sometimes they are in labour for 10 days and then someone pulls the baby out for them. The baby doesn’t always survive.

Book by Dr Catherine Hamlin

The pressure of the baby trying to get out puts pressure on the woman’s bladder. That part of the bladder dies off and drops out leaving a permanent hole in the bladder. This means that the woman permanently urinates through her vagina because there is nothing to stop it. She is unable to do the normal tasks of the day. She is shunned by her family because she smells. Her husband will sometimes send her home to her family. But they are shocked to find out how much she smells, and quite often don’t want her there either.

There is a hospital set up in Ethiopia where the women travel long hours to have an operation that will close the hole in their bladder. Uberta travelled there for her operation. The operation was not successful as her bladder was too badly damaged and small. Australian doctors travelled over there to try a system where she can insert a plug in her urinal tube and manually release it when she goes to the toilet. This system worked for her and she was happy.

I felt for her so much. She was only 17 years old and had been through so much. She thought that suicide was her only way out of life. Now she has found a job at an orphanage and has been assigned children to look after. She is now happy and getting an education too.

The doctors at the hospital are trying to teach pregnant women that when they feel the baby walking in their tummy then that is when they need to start walking to a hospital to have their child.
We take western medicine so much for granted. I knew that childbirth was a life threatening situation but I didn’t know that it was possible to remain in labour for such a long time like that. And that such horrible damage could be done to our bladder with the pressure of a child pushing against it for so long.

Some of the women had Fistula for 6 years before making it to the hospital for help. There are 100,000 women still waiting for their operations in Ethiopia. Thankfully they have a 93% success rate. It was wonderful to see such smiles on the women when they were able to have the pleasure of standing there in dry clothes.

The name of the hospital was the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital. Dr Catherine Hamlin is Australian and is the executive director of the hospital, she has been there since 1959.

Please go here to donate some money to help them.