Breasteeding Class

As a part of our childbirth class, a "Breastfeeding Your Baby" class was offered.  Since I do, in fact, plan on breastfeeding, I decided to sign up for this class in hopes of gathering some useful information.

The class was last night, and it was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.  The teacher is a Labor & Delivery nurse, and has breastfed all three of her children for a year plus.  She was funny, open, patient, and generally put everyone at ease, even the dads that came to the class!  She even gave us her cell phone number, and encouraged us to call any time of day or night to ask questions or run any concerns we have by her.  She said she routinely gets calls in the middle of the night from new moms, with a wide variety of questions.  How's THAT for service?!  I seriously want this woman to come live with me for a few weeks after the kiddo is born.

We went over the benefits of breastfeeding and myths regarding breastfeeding.  We also talked about feeding breastmilk from a bottle, the use of pacifiers, breastmilk storage, and pumping.

Then came the hands-on part of the class.  Everyone was given a balloon, which we blew up to resemble breasts.  We then got a baby doll, and practiced latch techniques and different positions to hold the baby in.  It was nice to actually be able to physically practice this, rather than just watching.  Obviously it will be different with a real baby and a real breast, but some practice is better than none!!

I left the class feeling much more confident in my ability to breastfeed, and with all of my questions answered.  I'm so glad the hospital offered this class, and now I just have to wait for little man to arrive!