Kim Smith, Regina Lactation Consultant & Doula, Queen City Doulas & Co

Did you know that rates of mastitis go up around holiday periods? Why? Well, loads of reasons to be honest. Let's picture it shall we? It's your first christ...mas with your baby. You're mega excited and so is everyone else to have this gorgeous bundle in their lives. Christmas is going to be AWESOME. Lots of travelling around in the car visiting friends and family, making the most of maternity leave to see everyone and proudly show off this little person, taking up offers to go over and be cooked for! And that is genuinely fabulous. But all that travelling leads to lots of time in the car seat, and for most babies the car seat sends them to sleep. And long sleeps mean long gaps between feeds, which leads to full breasts with potential for blockages... Then the parties, the gatherings, celebrations! Lovely right?! Yes! Except everyone wants a hold of little baby Rupert and once again he has longer stretches between feeds. And when he does come back to you he's over stimulated and over tired and only takes two minutes on the breast before he falls asleep leaving you with, you guessed it, full breasts.... Or the guests seem to think they know better than you do about baby Josie's feeding cues and tell you she doesn't need feeding, they can settle her for you. They talk about how 'when they had babies you only fed every four hours and it didn't do them any harm'. You're then stuck between a rock and a hard place, because you would like to feed your baby, but you don't want to upset family or the way they did things, and maybe they're right? Feeds are often cut short around celebrations, because you have lots of people offering to help and hold the baby so your dinner doesn't go cold, or guests arrive, or you're due somewhere, or you'reupstairs feeding and want to get back down to the party...the list goes on. So your breasts don't get 'emptied' like usual and can you guess what happens next? Yep.... Maybe you don't feel comfortable feeding around Auntie Ethel and Uncle Bernard, so you don't quite expose your breast as much as you might normally, and your clothes/bra are digging in a little and restricting milk flow and cause a blockage... Maybe you're sleeping somewhere different, the bed is different, you can't quite get the angle of the feed right on this squishy mattress and the latch goes a bit dodgy, but you put up with it because you don't want the baby to cry and wake everyone. Dodgy latch leads to breast not emptying efficiently...and you know the rest. Christmas is lovely, but for a huge amount of people it's also very stressful. Stress hormones can impact on oxytocin, which is the hormone needed to let your milk flow. So stress can temporarily inhibit milk flow leading to those full/blocked breasts again. I might be coming across as a bit Bah, Humbug! but I've been around enough mothers with mastitis to know its REALLY not what you want to be dealing with at any point. It is not to be messed with, it is a serious condition and you can potentially end up very poorly. What I'm saying is, take it EASY. Plan ahead now to make sure this holiday season is one where you can feed whenever and wherever you need to. Be led by your baby. Don't stretch out or cut short feeds. Listen to your body, not Auntie Denise.

NEW PARENT MEET UP Monday morning at 9:30 Hey new-parent, We see you! The transition into parenthood is no joke, am I right? You are looking for con...nection. You’ve tried zoom meeting with friends. You’ve posted for advice on FB. Maybe you’ve even had some in person gatherings with close family and friends. But you’re still looking for that authentic connection with new-parents, just like you. You thought you’d be taking your baby to all kinds of things, meeting new people and making those life long friends you dreamed about when you were pregnant. You long to sit in a room with parents and think oh, whew, you too, I am not alone. You never thought you’d be parenting during a pandemic, and yet here you are, making the best of things. We see you! We’ve been parenting right there with you. We are offering this support group in exchange for a donation. We’ve opened up our hearts and doors. This is your opportunity to talk shop, create connections and air all your grievances and share all of your wins! We’re here to support you. This group will run every third Monday at 9:30am and is by donation. We have only FOUR spaces available. Open to all new-parents looking for connections. Feel free to bring your non-movers to the group. >>> ALL COVID PROTOCOLS ARE IN PLACE AND WILL BE ADHERED TO https://www.hivewellnessstudio.ca//new-parent-meet-up-zz5zn

Tomorrow I begin a new series of education & training so I will have even more resources & tools to share with parents!Tomorrow I begin a new series of education & training so I will have even more resources & tools to share with parents!

Who am I when it comes to breastfeeding support? What and who are you getting...

This. This right here is why I created the 6 Weeks to Success Breastfeeding Support Package. I am constantly pulling people out of the river with breastfeeding. The history’s and stories I hear along my journey as an IBCLC taught me there are critical times to take action for successful breastfeeding and I realized I don’t have to be here ready to pull people out of the river. I can be upstream with them when they welcome their babies and keep them floating above the water. ... This program is for you if you are in your third trimester, planning to breastfeed and want to avoid all the scary stories you have heard from friends, sisters, cousins, mothers about pain and low milk supply, babies unable to thrive on their milk, not getting any sleep, fussy babies... Breastfeeding can be an enjoyable and wonderful experience with the right set up of knowledge and support. You deserve to have that knowledge and support and positive breastfeeding experience. If you want to know more about the program reach out or to register see them link in my bio or on my website. #yqr #yqrbreastfeedingsupport #yqrmoms #pregnantinyqr #expectingmom #yqrbreastfeedingclass #yqrpostpartum #breastfeedingjourney See more

Hey everyone. This video was made on my personal page but it gives are really good update as to what is coming down the pipes for me as an IBCLC in the next couple months! Always learning.