Supports and services for breastfeeding mothers amid Covid-19

Learning how to breastfeed during a hands-off pandemic is challenging, but support organisations have responded by moving their services to phone lines and online

Lorna Power and her daughter Fiadh. Picture: Amanda Hatton, Your Story Photography

National Breastfeeding Week, running from October 1 to 7, will be very different this year as most of its events will run be online.

The pandemic has had a huge impact on the lives of pregnant women and new mothers. Services such as antenatal classes and breastfeeding support groups are no longer offered in person. The HSE says these services still exist online and that everyone can get the help they need to continue breastfeeding over the phone or through the internet.

Pollyana O’Keeffe, 35, from Rathmines in Dublin, is mother to four-month-old Amber. She has been at the sharp end of this experience.

“I was just about to attend La Leche League meetings when everything shut down,” she says. “I was looking forward to them as I don’t have many close friends who have recently become mothers.”

Those meetings never happened and instead, O’Keeffe had to pull support from wherever she could find it. “The nurses in the Coombe were lovely and helped Amber get a good latch for breastfeeding,” she says. “However, I learned that’s not enough to avoid pain.”

Two weeks later, she called a lactation consultant. “It was too painful to continue,” she says. “The consultant sent my husband to the shop to get formula, calmed me down, and reassured me that this was just a pause in my journey, not the end.”

For the following two weeks, baby Amber fed on half formula and half expressed breastmilk while O’Keeffe’s nipples healed. She continued her online consultations and attended online classes with Cuidiú, the parent-to-parent voluntary support group.

“They have been great,” she says. “While it is difficult not being able to see everyone, I have got to know mothers who have had the same experience as me and come through the other side. Amber is now exclusively breastfed, and I don’t think I could have done it without them.”

NEED FOR SUPPORT

Dr Margaret Murphy is a lecturer in midwifery at the School of Nursing and Midwifery in UCC, a midwife, and a lactation consultant. She has been worried about women who have found it difficult to get support for breastfeeding.

“When lockdown happened, antenatal classes and breastfeeding classes were among the first to be cancelled,” she says. “I was concerned about the effect this would have on women trying to establish breastfeeding.”

Over the summer, she undertook research to find out what they were experiencing. “My main finding is that these restrictions caused significant anxiety and distress. Mothers miss the face-to-face support of professionals and other mothers.”

All of the women Murphy interviewed had accessed help online from public health nurses, midwives, GPs, and lactation consultants. “They were glad of that help,” she says. “But trying to angle your phone so that the person on the other end of the line can see the child’s latch is not easy. Having someone by your side telling you that you are breastfeeding properly and that your child is feeding correctly is far more reassuring.”

Lorna Power, 32 and from Rathfarnham, needed that reassurance shortly after her daughter Fiadh was born in July. “All of my antenatal, lactation, and physiotherapy classes were cancelled,” she says. “I did an antenatal class online and that was helpful. But my labour was difficult, and I had to go through most of it by myself, with my husband waiting out in the car park. Afterwards, I was in a lot of pain and it wasn’t easy to get breastfeeding established.”

For the first few days, Fiadh would not latch properly. Even when she did, she kept falling asleep while feeding.

“One of the midwives was so supportive,” says Power. “If I hadn’t had her help, I don’t think breastfeeding would have worked out for us.”

Once she returned home, Power needed further help. “I spoke to a private lactation consultant online,” she says. “I just wanted to be sure we were doing everything right. It was not the same as the face-to-face support I had in hospital, but it gave me the confidence I needed to push on. Breastfeeding is a new skill for you and for your baby and you need some guidance while you’re finding your feet.”

ONGOING SERVICE

The breastfeeding support groups have continued to provide information and advice to mothers throughout the pandemic. “All of the same supports are still out there, they are just available in different ways,” says Elaine Campbell, a breastfeeding counsellor with Cuidiú.

While online lacks the social interaction of in-person meetings, mothers are finding it helpful. “There is more demand than ever for our one-to-one support over the phone and lots of mothers are attending our online meetings or joining our WhatsApp groups,” says Campbell.

Sharon Beehan, a spokesperson for La Leche League, a voluntary organisation that provides support to women who want to breastfeed their babies, has had the same experience.

“Not being able to have our in-person meetings has been a huge loss to mothers, babies, and families,” she says. “Getting breastfeeding off to a good start requires support. La Leche League is still here to help pregnant women and breastfeeding mothers access accurate information and support during this time.”

Like Cuidiú, La Leche League provides support over the phone as well as on social media such as Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and Twitter. They also facilitate group meetings online.

Pollyana O’Keeffe is glad of this. “Online may not be the same and when things go back to normal, I will definitely attend meetings to get to know other moms and make some new friends,” she says. “But I have to admit this way does have some advantages. I never miss a meeting because I don’t even have to leave my house.”

 For more information about how you can access breastfeeding help or join online events taking place during National Breastfeeding Week, see the HSE website www.mychild.ie, www.cuidiu.ie, and www.lalecheleagueireland.com