If you are pregnant, congratulations! It’s time to learn what you need to know and prepare yourself before your baby is born. Pregnancy is the ideal time to consider your questions and worries if you plan to breastfeed your baby.

Here are some suggestions:

Is there anything I can do in pregnancy to prepare for breastfeeding?

Yes, of course! During pregnancy, you have a lot of time to prepare for your baby’s arrival: buy clothes, look for the best car seat or baby carrier… and time to prepare for breastfeeding.

Breastfeeding is instinctive for babies but not for mothers. Mothers have to learn how to breastfeed, and, in fact, we have to observe how to breastfeed.

You may think that you will have time when the baby is born, but the first questions usually happen in the hours and days after birth. If you are prepared, have good information, and know what to look out for, then you will feel more confident and be able to ask for help when difficulties arise.

You can do many things:

1. Read

The best way to acquire information and knowledge is to read a lot. Many books by female authors are enjoyable to read; each one, from her perspective, can give you a broad view of what breastfeeding means.

2. Observe

Whether in a breastfeeding support group or with a breastfeeding friend, try to observe how it’s done, how the baby should be positioned, and what a correct latch looks like.

3. Clarify

Your questions or worries should be resolved or cleared up before your little one is born. Breastfeeding is full of myths and lies that unintentionally flood your imagination: some say that there is poor quality breast milk, that many mothers don’t have any milk at all, that you have to be very careful of what you eat, that you cannot take any medications…

4. Ask

Make sure you find out what the breastfeeding protocols are in the hospital where you are going to give birth. If they will facilitate skin-to-skin contact early on if they will help you and accompany you during the first feed, and so on.

What do I need to know before my baby is born?

Magazines, movies, and advertising paint a very rosy picture of motherhood and breastfeeding. Breastfeeding is something very special and wonderful, but you have to want to do it. Caring for someone for 24 hours is hard, and being a mother is a lot like being a caregiver. You’re going to need someone to take care of you, someone who cares about you and your well-being and makes you as comfortable as possible.

So accept all the help you’re offered: housekeeping, taking the dog for a walk, taking out the garbage, doing the dishes, cooking, washing, and ironing. Just because you will be at home most of the day or not working in a paid job, it doesn’t mean you have or can do everything.

You will have one main and very demanding job: caring for and feeding your newborn child. And if no one offers you help, make sure you ask for it and tell them exactly what you need. Surely, your family and friends will lend you a hand.

Breastfeeding is very changeable; it varies from day to day and for each child and each mother. So you will have to live your breastfeeding and maternity journey day by day, adapt to the changes, to the increases in demand, to the nights of high demand, to sleep little and love a lot.

My breast feels tender; will it go away?

During pregnancy, the breasts become very sensitive due to an increase in progesterone and estrogen hormones.

After giving birth, in the days that follow, this discomfort gradually decreases until it goes away.

This discomfort, due to hormonal causes, feels like a pinch. When the baby starts to suckle, you may feel an unpleasant sensation that should disappear within a few seconds. However, if the pain continues throughout the feed, something is not quite right, and you should try to find help and a solution as soon as possible.

Breastfeeding should never hurt. Surely, you have heard a thousand stories to keep you awake at night, and some women in your family or circle of friends have had a hard time.

We are taking it for granted that all our reproductive cycles are painful: menstruating hurts, giving birth hurts, and breastfeeding hurts.

But it should not be like that; when you are in pain, your body tells you that something is wrong and that you need to resolve the situation. Breastfeeding should not hurt, and if it hurts, seek help as soon as possible and do not wait for the pain to go away by itself.

Some of my friends scare me, and others tell me it’s wonderful

Like anything else in life, breastfeeding has its ups and downs. It depends on each individual mother’s experience and what she has lived, suffered, or enjoyed.

You can hear all kinds of experiences, but what is certain is that there are always moments, even if breastfeeding didn’t go well, that are still wonderful and little treasures of love.