Chantelle Champs - Milk It: Everything You Need to Know About Breastfeeding: Advice, solutions & self-care for every parent

Published by Lagom

An imprint of Bonnier Books UK

8081 Wimpole St,

Marylebone,

London W1G 9RE

www.bonnierbooks.co.uk

eBook 9781788702751

All rights reserved. No part of the publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted or circulated in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

A CIP catalogue of this book is available from the British Library.

Designed by IDSUK (DataConnection) Ltd

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Copyright Chantelle Champs, 2020

All illustrations Shutterstock unless otherwise specified

Chantelle Champs has asserted her moral right to be identified as the author of this Work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

The author of this book is not a health professional but a mother and the advice contained within is based on her experiences. This book is not intended to be a substitute for medical advice from a qualified clinician. If you are concerned about any aspect of breastfeeding your child, you should seek advice from your Midwife, Health Visitor or your Doctor.

Every reasonable effort has been made to trace copyright holders of material reproduced in this book, but if any have been inadvertently overlooked the publishers would be glad to hear from them.

To my daughters, Dakota, Tatum and Blakely. I hope this book will always be a reminder to you that you can do anything you set your mind to.

Contents

by Kathryn Stagg, IBCLC

I came across Chantelle when she joined the Breastfeeding Twins and Triplet UK Facebook group when she was pregnant with her twins. Her first post on the group was about how she was so determined to breastfeed but that she was being told by everyone that it would be too difficult. Once several others had shared their stories, and reassured her it was totally possible, she never looked back. And despite the twins arriving a bit early and struggling a little in the early days to feed efficiently, with support from the Facebook group and local breastfeeding supporters, she did indeed fulfil her goal and breastfed the twins for over two years.

From the start Chantelle has been a voice of encouragement for so many breastfeeding mums through her Instagram account, especially twin mums. She has played a big part in normalising breastfeeding. My favourite post of hers is of her breastfeeding her twin toddlers at Disney World this is so important to see in our society. Breastfeeding older babies is often hidden, and we have such a small percentage of babies being breastfed beyond one year in the UK, it is very rare to see. I am absolutely sure Chantelle will have encouraged so many other mums to try breastfeeding, and to continue breastfeeding for longer. And now she has put all of this enthusiasm into a book!

Milk It is a lovely, easy-to-read guide to breastfeeding and the story of Chantelles breastfeeding journeys with her first child and then her twins. It has lots of great tips about where to find information, how to get breastfeeding going, where to get support and how to know it is working. It will be a great read for anyone expecting a baby and wanting to know a bit more about breastfeeding, how it works and whether it is something for them. Chantelle is so encouraging and enthusiastic but also empathic and honest about how it can be hard in the early days.

The take-home messages of the book are: give breastfeeding a try, its wonderful, it can be difficult, ask for help if you need it, and any amount of breastfeeding or breast milk you can give your baby is brilliant.

Kathryn Stagg, IBCLC

Your name:

Singleton (One)/Twins/Triplets:

Baby names you like:

Due date:

Birthing partner/s

How long you would like to breastfeed for:

Your ultimate breastfeeding goal:

How are you feeling about breastfeeding?

Wishes & hopes for your baby/babies:

Notes:

Hello, Im Chantelle! Im a wife to Lewis and mother to my eldest daughter Dakota (six) and my twin daughters, Tatum and Blakely (two). Im a normal mum, the same as you. I started breastfeeding with no tools, no knowledge, and ended up experiencing one of the most amazing, rewarding journeys of my life. Due to this, Im on a mission, mother-to-mother, to help, inspire and give confidence to other mums who want to breastfeed.

I fell in love with breastfeeding and so I learnt everything I possibly could about it. When I talk about breastfeeding, it normally ends up with me getting tearful. Its something Im very passionate about, but I think the deep-rooted reason why Im so emotional about the subject is because of the lack of support and knowledge I received when I wanted to breastfeed my children. I know first-hand just how important it is to have the right support and knowledge from health professionals. From speaking with hundreds of women, this is the overriding common factor of new willing mums, that they are unfortunately being let down and then struggle to breastfeed. I wanted to write a book for it to be the support you may lack and the knowledge you may not have. I want to be your friendly voice and come along with you on your breastfeeding journey, whether it be for a few days or a few years.

There is such a pressure for new mums to breastfeed, but when it comes to it, we are not given the knowledge and support we need. I was never told about any of the problems that might arise or how I could get over them. I dont know whose duty it is to speak to you about it and give you this information, but for me and many women out there, it wasnt information that was handed out to mums who wanted to breastfeed.

I breastfed my eldest daughter for 19 months and spent 27 months breastfeeding my twin daughters. Both times I really noticed a huge lack of support and knowledge given to me about breastfeeding. After having my twin daughters, I really struggled in the early days. I felt like I was on my own, with nowhere to turn, and I felt I had a fight on my hands to continue breastfeeding as I was made to feel I should be formula feeding as it was easier with multiples. Even though I had breastfed my eldest daughter successfully for 19 months and I knew what I was doing, and more importantly I knew my body knew what it was doing, I wasnt expecting breastfeeding my twins to be so challenging, with so many obstacles to cross, or how much it would take its toll on me mentally.

I think theres a common misconception that breastfeeding is going to be easy and unfortunately that just isnt always the case. So, Im here to tell you everything I wish Id been told and to give you all the support I wish Id received. If you take one thing from this book, let it be that support and knowledge is power. Those two things, combined with a little determination, are the perfect recipe for a successful breastfeeding journey.

The passion I have to help women to breastfeed, or even just to inspire them to try when maybe they never wanted to before, I can feel it in my bones. I started sharing my breastfeeding journey (@chantellechamps) on Instagram in 2017 when the twins were a week old, and became inundated with messages from thousands of new mums all around the world, many of whom were feeling just like I was: alone, unsupported and looking for advice. With every mum who messaged me saying I had inspired them to breastfeed, or to continue breastfeeding, each and every one of them added fuel to my heart and I now have a burning fire inside my whole body to want to help as much as I can. I feel like I am on a mission to help as many mums as I possibly can to breastfeed successfully.