Breastfeeding while pregnant

When I became pregnant last year Buttercup was only 6 months old. She was just beginning to experiment with solids and we were planning on breastfeeding for at least another six months as we were doing baby-led weaning.

My first indication of being pregnant was that latching began to be uncomfortable for me and Buttercup began to increase the time she spent feeding, I think this may have been because she was working to keep my supply up.

I found great support and advice on the parenting website Rollercoaster and on, the then newly launched, Breastway site. Someone recommended the book Adventures in Tandem Feeding by La Leche League and this really helped me to believe that, yes breastfeeding while pregnant would be possible for us.

Now it hasn’t been easy all the time. We had a teething marathon at the start of the year and as she wanted to feed all night for comfort, I was pretty exhausted. I also needed to go on iron supplements this pregnancy, I hadn’t when pregnant with Buttercup, but I put that down mainly to the teething weeks.

When I was seven months pregnant and Buttercup thirteen months old my supply and her interest (and mine too, if I’m honest) dwindled and after three days without a breast feed, I realised we were weaned. It was quite emotional as I had been prepared to the whole tandem feeding thing, but such is life.

Talking to other mums who have breastfed during pregnancy, experiences vary. For some they seem to lose supply quite early in the pregnancy, for others they have an abundance that sees them through the nine months and beyond. Physically and emotionally mums and babies reactions vary from the desire to wean almost immediately (especially if the baby is older) to being quite happy to nurse away into the foreseeable future.

Whatever your choice there is an increasing amount of information and support out there.