Being the mother of a newborn is hard.
Ann McAlpine says she can see it on the faces of other women in her Breastfeeding Connections group at Holland Hospital.
“If you were to like pick your head up and look around the room, they're all like deer in headlights. Zombies, you know, like they're all very tired. We're all tired and we're all struggling and trying to get through this process.”
Registered Nurse Sarah Moelker is a lactation consultant with the program,
“Our message to them is you're not alone, that we're here to help you. Whether it be latching issues or wondering on different positioning, figuring out is Baby actually getting enough at the breast - all those issues we can help you work through and hopefully also take down some of the anxiety and stress that goes along with it.”
Staff guide mothers through the process, starting in the hospital with personalized coaching and continuing afterward with support groups, phone consultations and more.
“We also have our parent advocates who are social workers who are especially trained in dealing with perinatal mood disorders. One of them always comes to our support group and is here to meet those emotional needs and then we as lactation nurses are here to meet the practical hands-on.”
Ann McAlpine urges all mothers of newborns to visit the support group even if it’s not their first time breastfeeding.
“With my first born, I really missed out on that, and I regretted it and didn't have the best experience with him with breast-feeding. And so far, this time around has been much better, and I felt much better too, like physically, emotionally, mentally. It's just been totally night and day, and I think that has a lot to do with it.”
Mothers can drop in to the Breastfeeding Connections group from 1:30-3pm on Tuesdays at Holland Hospital, even if their baby wasn't delivered there.
More about Holland Hospital’s classes online at hollandhospital.org/classes.
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