My daughter latched on within a few minutes of being born, but only for a minute. I didn't realise at the time, knowing very little about breastfeeding, but I now believe I had flat nipples. I had some difficulties latching her on over the next day or so and got alot of help from midwives and nurses but at times felt I was being given differing advice.

I found her latching on to be quite intense for the first few days, but feel I had quite an easy time of it, no cracked nipples or any other real issues. My milk came in on day 3 and I had problems latching her on because I was engorged. I found this quite upsetting but once I realised that I could hand-express a little to make it easier for her to latch on we got on very well after that!

My PHN came out and weighed Eliza when she was about a week old. She had some concerns about her weight even though she was high in the centiles so she arranged to come back a couple of days later. When she returned and weighed her again she was happier, Eliza had regained her birth weight and seemed to be gaining steadily. She advised me to make sure and give her a bottle of formula regularly, advice which seems completely absurd to me.

The first complication I ran into with breastfeeding was a cracked nipple at about 8 months. Elizas top teeth were coming down at the time. It was quite sore to feed but changing position from normal cradle hold to football hold really helped, so I fed like that for a couple of days and rubbed in some breastmilk after each feed, we were back to normal within a couple of days

I got a blocked duct when Eliza was about 9 months, I believe from wearing a badly fitting bra. I was advised to massage the breast, and apply heat to try and clear the blockage as well as taking it easy for a couple of days. It felt quite bruised but was also resolved fairly easily with some good advice and support.

It now seems that my dd is very likely suffering from a milk protein allergy and that I have most likely saved myself a huge amount of bother that I didn't even know about by breastfeeding. Its always great to know that there are other advantages but obviously that wasn't what made me do it.

I find breastfeeding to be an empowering experience. Looking at your baby knowing that all they need to keep them alive and thriving is you, is an amazing feeling. Yes, we all have those days where that seems more like a millstone around our necks than a blessing but, in my case anyway, the good days far outweigh the bad. There are a million reasons I chose to breastfeed but which one I would put top of my list really depends on when I'm being asked. Right now, its the calming effect it has on her, its soothing comforting qualities. I love that no matter how upset she is, for whatever reason, putting her to the breast will settle her just about every time.