Mom Topics - Breastfeeding

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Being sick and breastfeeding is a challenge. I remember coming down with the flu while my partner was overseas on business. We had a friend staying with us, but she was moving that day into a new house and there was already tension with her new housemate. I wanted her to stay, but I knew my partner would be flying in that night so I drove her to her new abode and somehow made it home and collapsed in bed consumed by a fever.

My son was five months old and exclusively breastfed.

In a half-conscious state I laid there while he played with a new ring set all afternoon. I alternated between sleep and breastfeeding. There was no one there to get me water or anything to eat. Somehow, I managed to drive to the airport later that night to collect my partner (whose flight was delayed and I had to repeat the journey an hour later).

It was one of the scariest episodes for me in the first six months of mothering. My milk supply faltered, dehydrated and exhausted and without anyone there to love and care for me I felt totally alone, as though I was being sucked down a dark, bottomless well. I wish that I had have put my needs first, known to demand what I needed and not worried that it was selfish to ask.

Getting well and continuing to breastfeed with a full milk supply can come down to what you say yes and no to while you are sick. This article focuses on what you need to say ‘yes’ to.

Say Yes to Your Breastfed Baby

Your baby needs your milk and only you can provide this. Others are able to put the washing on, make dinner for older kids and the other daily demands that come with motherhood and homemaking. Naish and Roberts in their book “The Natural Way to better Breastfeeding” write: “don’t try and soldier on – if you do you could risk your milk supply. If you’re not trying to attend to family and home as well as your breastfeeding baby, you’ve got a better chance of a quick recovery.” And a quick recovery is good for everyone!

Say Yes to Sleep

All the best drugs and alternate remedies are pointless if you don’t allow your body the chance to fight the battle, repair and get well again. The best way to do that is sleep. When you are sick and breastfeeding, sleep is a necessity, not a luxury especially if you are feeding through the night. A day or two of complete rest will make all the difference, shorten the length of your illness and allow you to get back on deck faster.

Say Yes to Help from Others

If you have older children arrange for a friend, family member or neighbour to drop or pick them up from school, or take younger kids for a morning or afternoon play. This will allow you to focus on rest and breastfeed. Do not feel guilty. At some point you will be able to reciprocate or repay your helping hands for their generosity. If you have a family member who wants to help - let them. There are no awards for suffering as a martyr.

Say Yes to Vitamins and Minerals

The benefits of Vitamin C are well known. Less known are the benefits of zinc and beta carotene (the wonderful pigment in orange fruits and vegetables) when sick. Invest in a good multivitamin that is synergistic to ensure all the vitamins and minerals are bio-available. You will notice the difference. Herbs such as garlic and horseradish are available in tablet form are also fantastic.

Say Yes to Putting Yourself First

As mothers we tend to relegate ourselves to the bottom of the list of priorities. Getting sick is our wake up call that we need to be nurtured and supported – that we are run down, tired, not coping or exhausted. Don’t feel guilty about being sick. Mothers often get sick only after everyone else in the family has been ill and cared for. Allow that care and attention to flow back to you. You do deserve it.

Say Yes to Taking a Sickie

You did it when you were in paid employment and you can do it now that you are a full-time breastfeeding mother! Arrange with your spouse/partner to stay home and care for the kids and you for one day. It’s a radical but sensible idea given that you will recover much faster, and that he’s probably already had one!

Saying yes to anything that enhances your ability to breastfeed while sick is a must. Setting clear and strong boundaries is difficult but essential when you are sick. Many of the hurdles we face when we are sick are ones we erect ourselves – not being able to say yes to ourselves to ask for or accept help, or yes to being networked in with a community of mothers.

Being sick is an opportunity to surrender, to embrace the great ‘yes’ of life and for the nurturer to be nurtured.

Image compliments of the Boon Family from private collection © Cameron Boon.

Jodi Cleghorn is a Brisbane mother and writer, as well as a passionate advocate for breastfeeding, natural birth and alternate therapies. She is the co-author of the book Reclaim Sex After Birth: the survival guide. This week she is excited to be starting on the six week Date Night Challenge with her partner Dave.

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