Alexis' story - breastfeeding a baby with a cleft palate
Makes Milk with Emma Pickett: breastfeeding from the beginning to the endShow Notes
Today I’m talking to the amazing Alexis White from Canterbury, New Zealand, about feeding her son Flynn. Her older daughter, Norah’s birth did not go to plan, but breastfeeding did, and Norah was breastfed until she weaned herself when Alexis was pregnant again. After a victorious home VBAC birth, early breastfeeding seemed normal, but by day six Flynn had lost 11.5% of his birth weight and then failed to gain despite frequent feeds. Alexis began pumping and syringe top-ups, and at three week...
More from Makes Milk with Emma Pickett: breastfeeding from the beginning to the end
Today, I’m talking to Hayley, a midwife and IBCLC from Queensland’s Sunshine Coast in Australia. Hayley’s first baby, Isla was conceived in Scotland in March 2020. Her return to Australia at 30 weeks with her husband Rob involved costly flights, and a two week hotel quarantine stay. After having an induction at 42+2, Hayley describes returning to on-call night work when Isla was 14 months and how Rob settled their breastfeeding toddler without bottles. Breastfeeding Isla was smooth and she la...
I’m delighted to be joined by a fellow ABMer today - Hannah Shaw from Morecambe. She’s a peer supporter and newly qualified probationary breastfeeding counsellor. We talk about ABM training and about Hannah’s two breastfeeding journeys. Hannah describes early struggles feeding her first child, Holly, including sore bleeding nipples, positioning issues and six months of rugby hold, then breastfeeding into toddlerhood despite family comments, bedsharing after a near-miss falling asleep wh...
This week, the brilliant Jo from Cheshire, mum to two-year-old Cecilia, is here to talk about breastfeeding beyond infancy alongside Jo’s neurodivergence. Jo shares her long conception journey, pregnancy complicated by preeclampsia, a five-day induction ending in an emergency C-section, and subsequent PTSD. Ceci struggled to latch and transfer milk in the early weeks. We discuss how Jo overcame those challenges. We also touch on toddler feeding patterns, co-sleeping, sensory factors, and usin...
I’m joined this week by the lovely Becky from Southampton to talk about breastfeeding her identical twins, Sully and Knox. Becky shares the shock she and her wife Sarah felt when discovering they were expecting twins. The pregnancy was monitored closely due to a shared placenta, and then growth restriction led to a 35-week C-section in Bournemouth because Southampton lacked NICU space. Her babies needed CPAP and NICU care, and Becky started pumping within hours and maintained three-hourly pum...
This week, I’m delighted to be joined by listener Sharnaé Storm from New Zealand. We’re talking about breastfeeding her three-year-old son Enzo. Sharnaé shares how night weaning and ending the bedtime feed happened gently through repeated “cuddles for sleep” affirmations, with breastfeeding temporarily increasing during illness (recent RSV). She describes early breastfeeding challenges, flat nipples, mixed opinions about possible tongue tie, and choosing to persevere with a nipple shield. Sha...