Breastfeeding may look effortless on the outside, but it’s a full-time job that requires full-time effort. Every mom would attest it’s one of the toughest jobs in the world, as there’s so much more than the sweet cradled position behind closed doors.
If you’re preparing for breastfeeding or seeking to understand breastfeeding moms, here’s the scope of work breastfeeding entails a mom to do (and how supplements like Natalac can greatly help them be their best!):
Just like in any kind of work, there is mental and emotional preparation required of breastfeeding moms. This is because first, there’s no telling when exactly one breastfeeding session ends. Will it only take a moment or a huge chunk of her time? This alone requires a lot of mind conditioning.
Also, when a mom breastfeeds, there’s very little of other things she can do. She will have to leave her chores and even her meals in the meantime to attend to her hungry baby. To think of finishing these tasks while breastfeeding is tiring and stressful, and it takes huge effort to manage all her postpartum stressors.
As for the emotional preparations, hear this: there are no exact words to describe how breastfeeding triggers emotions differently to different moms. There are some who feel all the gush of love and affection, while some lament their lost hours and pre-mom selves, and some feel all of these at the same time!
No, a breastfeeding mom doesn’t “just sit and breastfeed.” They sit and breastfeed while fighting off their persistent back pain. She wakes up in the morning as she’s been carrying sacks of rice for days. And no, she can’t call in sick or take a day off from breastfeeding because of this. Note that pumping breastmilk is still doing “the work.”
Yes, she’d feel the pain even more as soon as the next breastfeeding session begins, as she will be forced to find a comfortable position for her and her baby. Because she doesn’t really see when breastfeeding is going to end, this back pain feels never-ending as well.
At work, there’s daytime shift and graveyard shift – but in breastfeeding, a mom does work round the clock. She’s an on-demand worker and she deals with unpredictable schedule everyday. She does her job whenever she’s needed to do it.
Although there are ways she can get more restful nights, there’s really no telling which part of the day she’ll get the rest she needs.
Every working individual needs the right quantity and quality of food in order to function well during their shift. Because there’s no stopping to her work, a breastfeeding mom feels hungry, most, if not all the time. At times, she’s hungry and sleepy at the same time – and she’d rather rest than eat.
Although moms do the heavy lifting at breastfeeding, every form of support she gets from family and friends are always valuable for her to do her work well. There’s no “small” help for a breastfeeding mom. With her village’s support, she can take care of herself, eat her meals, and get her well-deserved nap. In some cases, they can also babysit while mom has actual paid work.
Moreover, she can ask for breastfeeding must-have recommendations to ease her discomfort, like a good nursing pillow or a great-fitting nursing bra.
Due to the many tasks breastfeeding moms have to attend to alongside the actual breastfeeding, they may feel stressed, which could contribute to lower milk supply. They can take a reliable support in the form of lactation supplements like Natalac, a clinically-proven lactation enhancer, so they could secure her child’s supply of liquid gold.
Breastfeeding moms need to remind themselves that they cannot give what they do not have. Their strong love for their children may be strong and it may come first, but going out for a while to walk and get some fresh air, or a quick trip to the salon for a mani-pedi session is something that will reinvigorate her to become her best self – ready to conquer the challenges of the next breastfeeding session.