Parent Diaries

I knew Emily was keen to breastfeed and she had prepared for this during her pregnancy. She is a midwife so knew her stuff when it came to it - a lot more than I did...

How I Supported My Partner On Her Breastfeeding Journey: Billy's Story

Billy supported his partner Emily thought her breastfeeding journey with their newborn son Charlie. We hear about his view on their early breastfeeding journey and how he was soon able to take-over the night-time feeds when Emily started expressing. Their family currently lives in the UK.

I knew Emily was keen to breastfeed and she had prepared for this during her pregnancy. She is a midwife so knew her stuff when it came to it - a lot more than I did. We had to stay in hospital for a week after Charlie was born due to complications, so Emily had lots of support from the staff. I was also able to stay to help support her by passing her an extra pillow or a drink when she needed it as once in the position to feed she didn’t want to move a muscle if he was ‘on right’.

When we got home Emily would do the feeds and I would do the nappies; this was how it worked for the first few weeks. I had 2 weeks off so was able to be around to help out and provide cups of tea and snacks when she needed. We were also well supported by family who brought meals round and helped out with the washing etc.

We decided to start giving Emily’s expressed milk to Charlie when he was about 3 months so that he could be used to feeding from the bottle as well as breastfeeding. This meant that I could do the bedtime feed whilst Emily had some time out. Charlie is now 6 months old and this has carried on so I do the feed before bedtime with a bottle of expressed milk. This allows for Emily to get on with whatever she wants and it also allows me to be involved in feeding Charlie.