Mom Refuses to Allow Emergency Hospitilization to Destroy Breastfeeding Relationship

By Susan Bachle, guest blogger

My name is Susan Bachle, and after nearly 11 years of marriage my husband and I were blessed with a precious little girl 8 months ago.  I have known I wanted to breastfeed since I was a little girl.  I was extremely intolerant of formulas as a baby and suffered with lactose intolerance as a child.  My mother expressed to me on numerous occasions when I was growing up that if she had breastfed me I would not have been lactose intolerant.  Now whether that is true or not, I don’t know, BUT it put me on the path to breastfeeding!  Nonetheless, when I had my daughter I did not feel as though my family was supportive of my decision and was told numerous times that I’d “give up” soon.  They were almost right.  

When Anna was only two weeks old I had a stomach ulcer perforate.  I underwent an emergency repair surgery and was hospitalized for nearly a week.  It was devastating to not only be away from my newborn baby but also not to be able to breastfeed her. I was not aware at the time that you could continue to breastfeed while taking some medications, so I followed the doctors’ orders, and pumped and dumped for the duration of my hospital stay.  My surgeon, however, was highly supportive of breastfeeding and ensured that I was given an excess of fluids while in the hospital; he encouraged me to continue pumping.  Of course it was difficult to maintain a strict pumping regime due to the effects of the medications, so my supply began to dip.  Later during a follow-up visit he expressed his surprise that I was still able to breastfeed after the surgery.  I am so relieved that he did not doubt my ability to do so during the time, as that certainly would have further discouraged me.

While I was in the hospital, I put out a call to the local breastfeeding Facebook group to request donor milk for my daughter.  I was lucky enough to be able to obtain some from a very generous mother!  My parents arrived to help my husband care for my daughter and gave her donor milk and formula.  I just knew that when I finally came home Anna would no longer latch.  She’d been on bottles and pacifiers while I was gone - my breastfeeding journey would surely be done.  

For the next several weeks I was on a liquid diet only, but I continued to try to breastfeed and rebuild my supply.  Anna re-latched like a champ - I was so relieved!  Anna and I laid in bed for days with lots of skin-to-skin contact, latching at every opportunity.  It was a challenge to maintain enough nutrition to exclusively breastfeed again, but within only a few short weeks we were back to 100 percent breastfeeding!  Now at 8 months our breastfeeding journey continues and I have zero plans to quit until she is ready!  

Mom Achieves Beautiful Breastfeeding Goal Despite Difficult Hospital Start

by Kim Jones, Guest blogger

Hi my name is Kimberly Jones. I have one child who is 16 months old. From day one I knew I wanted to breastfeed.  I attempted to breastfeed her from the moment my daughter was born. Everything was going great for the first 24 hours, then the nurse gave her a pacifier (after my husband had written on the information card that we don't want to use a pacifier). My daughter refused to latch back onto the breast after that.

I asked the nurse for a pump and some bottle nipples so that I could feed my daughter. I continued to pump for her for 5 days. My husband went to the local Walmart to get me a nipple shield so I could get baby back on the breast. After I started feeling depressed from not being able to keep to my goal I posted to Facebook for help. One of my friends gave me information for a store on South Parkway named A Nurturing Moment. I called to speak to the lactation consultant so I could get help. She immediately told me to come in the next morning.

 I went to talk to Glenni Lorick the next day. She helped me with our latch issues and talked about more ways to work on getting her on the breast without the shield. I was so happy with our consult that within the next week my daughter was back on the breast without the shield. Glenni helped me continue breastfeeding! I was ready to give up and just start giving my daughter formula. I am glad she helped us achieve our breastfeeding goal.


Not only did I achieve our goal, but I also had to pump because I had an over supply. I pumped so much milk I had to store most of my milk in my husband's grandparent's deep freezer. I eventually couldn't store anymore there or at my house, so I had to donate it. I asked a few people who could use the milk and they sent me many names. I became a donor for a little boy that was only 1 month and 1 day younger than my daughter. My daughter is still being breastfed and will continue to be until she decides to stop. I love our bond and am not ready to stop yet. I will not let anyone tell me that I need to stop feeding because my daughter is a toddler.

Third Time Is a Charm for Breastfeeding Mom

By Carissa Clarke, guest blogger

My name is Carissa and I would love to share my story with you. I was 19 when I delivered my first born. She was whisked away to the NICU, and my Breastfeeding relationship was never established. Without support from family or the help of a lactation consultant I went home without any hope. I pumped every two hours for each feeding that followed. Never learning how to nurse, I continued to pump and bottle feed until she was 4 months old when I finally gave in and accepted formula.

     Fast forward a few years, and I gave birth to a beautiful boy. I was determined to breastfeed him. So, I joined our local La Leche League and started attending meetings. Thanks to the help of those wonderful women, and specifically Jessica Hall, I maintained a healthy nursing relationship with my son even while I worked and pumped. About 8 months in, I received a lot of pressure from family to stop nursing and I was currently 3 months pregnant with number three. So due to the pressure, pregnancy, and being a working mom of two, I stopped nursing and resorted to donor milk to finish his first year. Thanks to my freezer stash and donor milk he finished his first year solely on breast milk. I was thankful and proud to be able to provide that.

     A few months later I finally gave birth to my third and final baby. This time I knew what my goals were, I educated myself, and I surrounded myself with lots of local support. I joined Huntsville Mommy Milk Meet-up, Rocket City Sling Swap, and Cloth Diapering in Huntsville. These local groups and the people I met thru them that shared my interests and goals helped me thrive at being the best I could be. We ignored family judgment and social pressure to stop, and we have made it to a year of breastfeeding! Although I did experience one public shaming at Our local Madison County WIC office recently, we are still thriving in our breastfeeding journey.  We still enjoy our nursing sessions and hope to reach our new goal of 18 months and beyond.

   Please remember that you and your baby have a right to nurse in public, and you should never feel ashamed. Don't let anyone pressure you into giving up on what you know is best for your child. Thanks for letting me share my story, and good luck to you and your breastfeeding journey. 

Mom Transports 200 oz. of Breast Milk from Hawaii to Alabama

by Krystal Ness, Guest blogger

Hi, I'm Krystal!  I have two children (4 yr old girl and 1 yr old boy).  I was unable to breastfeed my first due to a low supply, so I was adamant about making it work with my second baby.  From the beginning things were phenomenal!  He latched on right away and for the majority of our nursing relationship things went smoothly.  I work outside of the home, so pumping was a daily activity for me (nurse when I was home and pump at work).

When my littlest was 10 months old I took a business trip for 2 full weeks.  I was so nervous about all things breastfeeding that I was literally nauseated while sitting at the gate waiting to board.  Would my baby take the frozen milk I pumped? Would we have enough for the full 2 weeks?  Would I be able to find the time and room to pump while away from my baby?  Would my supply go down because he's not latching?  How do I get my milk back home after I pump it?  This was no easy trip either.  I was going to Hawaii -- thousands of miles away from my little boy.

The trip out there was long, but after I got settled into my condo I got into a rhythm pumping before work, at work, and after work each day.  I felt like that was all I was doing.  The place I was working did not have a room that I could use so I either pumped in the bathroom (making sure I was sanitary) or I pumped in my rental car.  After nearly 2 weeks I had about 200 oz. of frozen milk.  During my trip I called FedEx and UPS to find out how to ship my milk.  I was so disappointed to find out that the quickest they could get it to Alabama was 48 hrs.  I thought there was no way to get my milk home.  I had spent countless hours during this trip pumping, remembering why I spent the time and effort to pump, and my hopes that he would be nourished with it were dashed.  I was in tears.  I couldn't fathom throwing away that much milk.

The only option I had was to check my milk with my luggage.  I remember being so incredibly nervous walking up to the check-in counter.  "Do you have any explosives, firearms, or flammable material in this cooler?" No.  Phew!  "If you don't mind me asking what is in this cooler?" Frozen Breastmilk.  My inner self winced as I wondered whether she would have a problem with this, but her response was as if it was completely normal that I was traveling with my own milk from Hawaii to Alabama.  I was home free.  The only thing I worried about after that point was whether or not my luggage would get lost.  Standing at the Huntsville Airport waiting for the cooler I heard the ding of the luggage belt.  Within 30 seconds I saw my box crest over the luggage conveyor!  It made it!  When I got home, the milk was still completely frozen.  Pumped with love in Hawaii.  :-)

During my trip, after determining I had to check a cooler, I searched online for the best way to accomplish packing, but I found very few resources.  I purchased a cooler on Amazon, meant specifically for shipping food.  I purchased techni-ice and blue gel icepacks.  I filled the cooler completely full with as little space as possible.  I taped (using duct tape) around the top and sides of the cooler to ensure the lid would stay shut.  I put the cooler in a box of the same size (mine came with the cooler).  I labeled the box BREASTMILK and added my address and phone number  in case something went wrong and then I put the whole package in another box.

While I was gone, we did actually end up using donated milk for about 3-4 days.  A close friend of mine who pumps for the Milk Bank brought some over for my husband when he was close to running out of my own stash.  She even offered to wet nurse him.  I have used every single means possible to feed my baby breastmilk.  Nursed, Pumped, and Donated Milk!  I wish I had these friends and community resources earlier with my first baby!


I want to share
my story in hopes that other working moms gain hope that even a business trip doesn't need to end a nursing relationship.  We truly can meet the needs of our children while accomplishing our own dreams.

Let's Celebrate the Normalization of Breastfeeding

By Glenni Lorick, IBCLC
Thursday a number of moms and nursing babies/toddlers descended on Point Mallard. What had first been intended as a protest against the treatment received by nursing mother Emily Jackson, turned into a full -fledged celebration of the normalization of breastfeeding! Thanks to the amazing publicity due to the AL.com article written by Anna Claire Vollers, Point Mallard was quick to issue a statement in support of nursing mothers and their families.

Recently another local mom had an unfortunate experience at a local restaurant. Alex Ragland was celebrating her husband's return after a business trip. They were enjoying dinner at Buenavista where Alex ordered a Margarita. She waited to drink it until she was done nursing her 7month old son. After securing him in his high chair, she relaxed and drank her cocktail. When she ordered a second one, the waitress began making loud comments to other customers about her endangering her baby. One of the customers, himself a Redstone Arsenal Police Officer, called the Madison Police! When Alex went out to her car, she was met by Officers who explained that they had to make a report since they were called. They informed her that they had no choice but to involve DHR. The manager of Buenavista was extremely upset by what had happened to them, and he gave them their meal for free.

That night Alex contacted me because she was so understandably upset. She did speak with an attorney, (one of our incredible ANM moms) but decided not to pursue legal action. This week I stopped in to see Antonio, the manager. He was quick to tell me that the offending waitress no longer works there. He also expressed his dismay over what happened to Alex. He couldn't understand why anybody would give a second thought to somebody breastfeeding since it is completely normal in his home country! He assured me that all his staff understands never to bother a nursing mom, and if another patron complains, he will be relocated.

In light of Antonio's wonderful attitude, and with Alex's full blessing, we are planning a  #NormalizeBreastfeeding celebration for Thursday, July 2, at 6:00 at Buenavista on Highway 72 in Madison. We are taking advantage of their $2.99 margaritas as part of our celebration. Please understand that we are NOT encouraging moms to drink while nursing. Although Dr. Jack Newman  has said that "Reasonable alcohol intake should not be discouraged at all." Basically, if you are safe to drive, a Baby is safe to dine! Nevertheless, Alex did nurse first THEN had her margarita.

Let us know if you plan to come by responding to this link in Huntsville Mommy Milk Meet-up. Of course husbands are welcome! In fact, my husband and I plan to be there celebrating with our amazing mamas and babies!