I was introduced to Amanda Marks by my good friend and colleague in September 2021, as I was desperately failing at breastfeeding and expressing.
My baby was 5 weeks old and over those weeks I was producing less and less breast milk by expressing as she was so uncomfortable that she would not latch on and it was a negative experience for me and my baby.
In the early days I was able to express 1 ounce a day only and by week 5 it was down to only drops, I had no choice but to feed my baby formula milk, as I felt I was out of options. Feeding formula milk caused more problems; it made my baby suffer badly from colic, terrible constipation and severe reflux. She was uncomfortable, unsettled, non-stop crying for 12 hours or more during the day/night. I sought advice from the Doctors and was advised to give my baby adult doses of lactose that I felt was completely wrong.
I visited the unsettled baby clinics as Mabel was so uncomfortable on formula and they advised me to try and breastfeed to avoid the problems and this would cure my baby’s problems but gave no support or concrete advice.
I was so determined to make this work but at 5 weeks I thought my milk supply had suppressed and that there was no hope, also my periods restarted that made me think that there is no going back now which saddened my experience on breastfeeding.
My end goals were to be able to breastfeed my baby and when I return back to work early 2022 that I could express enough for my partner to feed her whilst I am away during the day and for me to breastfeed my baby long term!
We spoke to Amanda initially to get an idea of what would be best for us as we had in theory missed out on her Pre-birth and then Post birth programme so we were undecided about what she could offer. We opted for her Platinum Package and her by my side virtually for the next two weeks.
Amanda told me that this can be turned around but it isn’t going to be an easy ride, I was up for the challenge and this is something I felt so passionate about and want to give my baby the best that I can on her food to help get rid of all this suffering.
At first we tried to get her latching on but she refused so many times as had bottle and nipple confusion and it was causing much distress in my baby and myself, so Amanda recommended we try and increase the milk flow as that was causing the issues as Mabel was getting frustrated with trying to latch on and get the milk she wanted, as she has been bottle fed and with the bottle the milk immediately flows out. This is what we needed to do ASAP and mimic with my milk flow.
Amanda advised me to get a Spectra hospital grade pump (this is for moms who are struggling to get the milk flow, the one I had been using was for moms with no issues.) I was advised to speak to a Doctor who specialises in lactation and was referred by Amanda and I was prescribed Domperidone to help to increase the milk flow. I had been taking fenugreek but was told that as my milk supply was drying up quickly I was one of the few who must have had this side effect.
In a matter of days of the new pump arriving and taking domperidone Amanda put my plan of action together – express every 90 minutes and take the domperidone 3 times a day.
For the first day I managed to express from one drop to 30mls – that was absolutely amazing, I felt so positive and could see that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
After just one week I was expressing 50-70mls a day, and during that week Amanda encouraged me to try one more time with my baby breastfeeding directly from me… She did it and it was totally incredibly and latched on for 10 minutes, I was completely blown away. The next plan of action was to have my baby breastfeeding from me and then expressing after to give her a top up of breast milk but having to give her formula bottle by bottle and as each day went by my baby was taking less and less formula and more and more breastmilk…
On Day 12 I finally managed to exclusively breastfeed – I had increased my milk supply and my baby isn’t constipated any more, she is a totally different relaxed baby with no tummy or reflux issues.
I am so grateful for Amanda’s help and support, without her guidance I would have given up on breastfeeding and would have continued to watch my baby struggle with pain and discomfort on a formula milk journey.
If anyone is struggling, doesn’t believe they can breastfeed or needs more support, I would 100% recommend Amanda Marks to give you, and help guide you on, her breastfeeding programme.
She is totally amazing!!
