My Breastfeeding Café with Medela

Last month saw me host my first Breastfeeding Café, as a Medela Mum and Café ambassador for my city I’ll be hosting one of these each month through to October. It’s a great way for local mums or my fellow breastfeeding friends to get together, eat cake (that’s important) Drink tea and talk.

As with most things attending a planned event when you have children doesn’t always go to plan, this saw my group of feeding friends all drop out one-by-one the day before my planned Café.

My cousin went ahead and gave birth that day so we’ll let her off, it’s a good job she didn’t come along! 😉

I was however determined to go ahead and get out for the afternoon, so I put a very last-minute post up on Mummy Social the night before inviting any breastfeeding mummies to come and meet me in the city centre.

At this point I was fairly certain I would be sitting alone in the coffee shop, which is why I’d chosen such an open public place, if nobody came nobody would know. I’m just a mummy enjoying a tea break with her baby. To my amazement two lovely Mums came with their babies and I had a great time!

– Amazing cake –

Having never spent time with any breastfeeding mothers before it was nice to be able to discuss things that my other friends don’t understand or can’t help with, being able to say “What do you do when….” and having another lady give you her thoughts really helps!

We spoke about why we had chosen to breastfeed and if it was a choice we made during pregnancy or after, it seemed we all had the same mentality towards it, choosing whilst pregnant. If we could, we would, we would try. But it’s not always easy for everyone and we all agreed how those first few weeks can be hard.

As well as discussing how our journeys had been so far we shared tips and tricked we’d learnt so far, who knew that feeding baby upside down is meant to help relieve mastitis, and for these mums it worked! You really do learn something new every day.

Meeting other breastfeeding mums was brilliant I cannot wait to do it again, I left my first café feeling not only like I had met two wonderful ladies but that I had also learnt a few things, what more could I ask for?

Do you attend any breastfeeding groups or events in your area or have any nifty tips to share? Don’t keep them to yourself, let us know! 😉

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– Tails on his way to talk about his favourite thing, mummy milk! –

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sarah Lea

What a great idea! I wish there had of been something like this when my children were babies! I had no support and ended up giving up breastfeeding with my daughter. And my sons I never had any milk come in. I can;t help but wonder, if I’d have had the help and support I needed, would I have managed to breastfeed? I would have found it very helpful to have a support group like this and such a great way to meet new people & make new friends! I know for next time (If there is a next time!) xx
Zoë Forde

I think it’s such a great idea to hold a breastfeeding cafe! There’s a lot of stigma (weirdly) still around breastfeeding (especially in public) so I wish you the best of luck!
Shareen HD

Ah I can’t really say much on this as I don’t breastfeed and didn’t with my first either. I did try however first time around and ended up in tears after 3 days. I wish I was a better milk machine but alas, we can’t all do what we want! If I did, a group like yours would have been amazing as I felt quite isolated when I was a stay at home mum so well done you! and don’t quit as I’m sure over time, more mummy’s will need something just like this x
Tori Gabriel

How sad that everyone let you down but at least a couple of people made the effort. Breastfeeding is amazing and I believe everyone should try it. However, should it not work out there is no shame in switching to formula.
You Baby Me Mummy

Sounds like a great idea. I didn’t breastfeed, but I know it can be difficult for some people to feed in public x
Kerryy

Aw sounds really great. I breastfed for 2 weeks, after that I stopped as I was in so much pain I didn’t want to feed her and she was losing weight. I don’t regret my decision but I definitely want to try again this time I think x
Amy

Oh this is fantastic I am glad two people showed up for you to chat to. I didn’t go to any specific groups for breastfeeding but got to know a lot of people online and it was always nice to have somewhere to go and ask if I wasn’t sure about something.
I carried on feeding until my last baby (now a toddler!) was almost two and found lots of support online and among other bloggers too x
Catherine Lux

This is such a good idea, I find it so strange how there’s such a stigma around breastfeeding in public when it’s so natural, so this is great for people who might be self-conscious about it! Also, that cake looks AMAZING.

C x | Lux Life
Nicola Cassidy

Briliant way to encourage Mums and offer advice. I had Medela swing pump and could not have breastfed for the year we did without it. I think having peer help and seeing others doing it around you is vital to keeping and growing breastfeeding rates.
TheL’s Mum

What a fantastic idea. Especially as so many mums can feel isolated. It’s a chance to talk about experiences, swap notes and make some new friends. That cake looked yummy btw.
Zena’s Suitcase

Well done for setting this up. Mums supporting mums with breastfeeding is one of the keys to success I think and I hope ti goes well for you
Anna

Aww, this reminds me of meeting up with my old NCT group back in brighton. And yes, we eat lots of cake too! … (although the morning meet-ups with babies soon got replaced with evening meet-ups including wine and NO babies!)
A lovely idea, well done you x
Ana De Jesus

You are fantastic for encouraging other mothers to meet up and make friends. Being a mother can be lonely and it is nice to know that other mothers share the same routines as you.
Rachel Hirst

Lovely meeting up with other like minded people and encouraging and supporting them.Great blog post supporting breast feeding
sacha

This is so cute! especially for mothers with newborns. I will be sharing this with my friends.
Kerry Louise

I know I’ve said it before, but I wish we lived closer as I would have loved to been able to come along to this! It’s great to meet up with other mums and support breast feeding x
Jess Loomes

Great post. I think it’s wonderful to be able to meet up with people who also breastfeed and have a nice coffee and chat.
The Vintage Owl

This sounds amazing! Motherhood can be lonely especially if you’re the only mother in your group of friends and relatives. These kind of meet ups are great!!
Aly

I was a trained breastfeeding supporter with my two youngest.I loved the 5 years I did it, meeting at a local breastfeeding group to help and support women, take them to local cafes to give them confidence, visiting the local maternity unit to talk to pregnant women at monthly breastfeeding workshops and making lots of friends over the years.It was really rewarding and I became a bit of a breastfeeding geek.

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