Breastfeeding was not a straightforward journey for me. Our newborn daughter had tongue
tie and although she had had a procedure (frenulotomy) to separate it, I was still finding it
extremely painful to nurse her. In addition, she wanted to feed around the clock and always
seemed dissatisfied. When we saw the health visitor and realised our daughter had gained
almost no weight in 7 days, I felt distraught – despite my best efforts to breastfeed through
the pain, I was fundamentally failing to deliver what she needed to survive.
It was at this point of despair that I found Pauline. Her reviews spoke of her expertise with
tongue tie and how her wealth of experience had helped many mothers overcome similar
issues, so I gave her a call. Pauline made a house visit later that day and I was immediately
reassured by her kind, calm demeanour, the way she listened to my issues and her
pragmatic approach to helping me resolve them. It was evident from the beginning that she
is passionate about her work, has a high level of training and experience, and supports
mothers to the best of her abilities by constantly keeping on top of new studies and
information relating to breastfeeding. I knew I was in safe hands.
Pauline explained that following my daughter’s frenulotomy she would need to relearn how
to use the muscles of her tongue in order to feed effectively. Pauline taught me how to
properly latch her and hold her securely, and how to use hand compressions to ensure a
more effective transfer of milk. There was an immediate improvement to our feeding
experience, however an overall supply issue with my milk came to light, which needed
rectifying.
After our appointment, Pauline communicated regularly with me via a private encrypted app
and began what was initially intended to be a two-week follow up period. She put together a
detailed feeding plan designed to increase my breastmilk supply, which comprised a
regimen of of “triple feeding” (breastfeeding + pumping + a bottle of supplementary milk
during each feed). She also recommended a drug called domperidome that increases
prolactin (and therefore increases milk production) and helped me procure it from my GP,
who was initially hesitant to prescribe it due to his lack of breastfeeding knowledge.
With this new structure to our breastfeeding routine and Pauline’s ongoing guidance, I finally
began to feel more in control. I threw myself into the new feeding plan and was enormously
relieved to see my daughter more satisfied and gradually gaining weight.
I continued to take the domperidome and added in some herbal supplements to stimulate
milk production (overseen by Pauline), but despite weeks of pumping and determination, my
supply was still nowhere near the amount needed to sustain my daughter. It was an unusual
and disheartening situation, but I was not going through it alone – Pauline continued to guide
me and check in with me regularly. The two-week support window had long since passed,
but I could tell she was personally invested in helping me achieve my goal. Unfortunately,
after many weeks of trying everything in my power to increase my supply, Pauline concluded
that I have a naturally low milk supply. The cause of this may be insufficient glandular tissue
in my breasts, and sadly no amount of intervention can increase the supply to the level
needed to exclusively breastfeed.
This physical shortcoming was hard to reckon with. Exclusively breastfeeding was
something I had always dreamed of, and now that my precious daughter was here, the
desire to reach that goal was overwhelming. I battled feelings of failure and inadequacy, and
grieved the loss of my exclusive breastfeeding journey. But Pauline reassured me that any
breast milk was a huge benefit to my daughter, providing her with essential nutrients and
antibodies, and she was now gaining weight more quickly so her health was no longer a
cause for concern. I realised that with Pauline’s ongoing support and my own obstinate
commitment, I had done everything in my power to increase my supply. My natural inability
to produce the full amount of milk was no more my fault than another woman’s ability to
produce an oversupply – it was simply down to natural biology. I was then able to move past
the emotion and focus on appreciating the breastfeeding bond with my daughter. Thus we
began a happier combi-feeding journey, but again I was not doing it alone – Pauline
answered my questions, guided me towards a more flexible and sustainable routine and
ultimately helped put the power back into my hands.
We are now four months into our feeding journey and my daughter has climbed back up the
growth charts to a very healthy weight. Pauline has continued to stay in touch, and I have
always felt able to ask her for guidance at any moment along the way. Having someone as
kind and experienced as Pauline take the time to personally invest in my situation has
genuinely reshaped it from a negative into a positive – and, given the emotionally sensitive
nature of my experience, that input has been profound. I know that without Pauline’s support
my breastfeeding journey would have been much more physically and mentally difficult to
deal with. I truly have Pauline to thank for the healthy breastfeeding routine and mindset I
have now established and would wholeheartedly recommend her to anyone struggling with
any element of breastfeeding. There is no need to suffer alone when Pauline can help you
take control of your experience. She will do everything she can to ensure you succeed –
which, even in my case, I genuinely feel I did. Sophie B.