Sam, Breastfeeding Peer Supporter, Volunteer
“I use my personal experience to help others…”
We caught up with Sam, a Breastfeeding Peer Supporter for Norfolk & Norwich University Hospital (NNUH) at a special Volunteering ‘WellFest’ event in Norwich to find out more about her role. From her personal experience of becoming a Mum, and what inspired her to become a Peer Supporter, to her volunteering responsibilities.
What made you want to volunteer for NNUH and specifically breastfeeding support?
Well, I had been volunteering in the community at feeding cafes and doing online support, which I really enjoyed, but I knew after having my son – and how difficult I found the breastfeeding – that I wanted to be in a hospital environment. To give my help and support to parents in those first few days who were struggling to feed their baby, because that’s what made such a massive difference for me.
Did you know before having your son that breastfeeding was a struggle for some women? Did you know much about it?
Well, I thought we would be okay because I’d done quite a bit of research beforehand. So I thought ‘I know what I’m doing, this will be okay’, and erm, it wasn’t. So that was a bit of a surprise, and I was really frustrated because I had done loads of research and been to extra antenatal classes, and yet I just had this sleepy baby, and I didn’t understand why that was happening.
Can you explain what kinds of struggles you’re referring to when it comes to breastfeeding?
So, the problems we tend to encounter are the baby being too sleepy after birth to feed; the type of delivery or birth can have an impact as well – like if the baby is born by caesarean or forceps – they might be a bit uncomfortable and find it difficult to feed. So there’s lots of medical reasons.
A lot of it comes down to positioning and attachment – so how a mother holds her baby and attaches them to the breast. A mum might just not know how to do that, or she might need some support finding a position which is comfortable for her. A lot of people think ‘Oh breastfeeding just hurts, it’s just something that hurts’ but it shouldn’t hurt, it should be comfortable. So, a lot of what we do is debunking those types of myths, that breastfeeding is painful and has to be endured, but that’s not the case.
Debunking myths is a big responsibility. Do you find there’s quite a few unhelpful narratives out there around breastfeeding?
Yes! I think a lot of women assume instinct will kick in. And you know, a certain amount of it comes down to that – a baby has a natural instinct to feed – but that doesn’t mean it’s just going to happen straight away. It’s a skill you’ve both [mother and baby] have got to learn. And you’re also still recovering from the birth, so yeah, mum’s have got so much stacked against them in those early days and when you’re given the narrative of ‘Oh it’s just natural, it’s instinctive’ and then it’s not happening that can be really distressing for a mum.
So, you said you received some help when you were breastfeeding yourself. What did that help look like?
So, a Peer Supporter called Claire (who’s still on the team) came and sat with me for about an hour. My baby was asleep the whole time, so she didn’t actually get to see a feed, but she listened to me and let me just vent all this frustration and confusion over why breastfeeding wasn’t working. And that was something I wasn’t able to do with the midwives and the MCA’s [Maternity Care Assistants] because they’re so busy doing their clinical work. But to have someone just give you that space and that time to work all these things out was really helpful. And then she gave me some practical support as well about how to hold him and hand expressing.
How soon was it after your own experience that you decided you wanted to become a Peer Supporter yourself?
Quite soon, days and weeks really. Because it was the thing that made the difference to our feeding journey, and I knew that we wouldn’t have been breastfeeding had it not been for that support. It was probably after 6-12 months that I thought to myself ‘I’d like to train and support others’.
Why do you love volunteering as a Breastfeeding Peer Supporter?
The relief that washes over a mum’s face once you’ve helped them. You can just see her relaxing.
It’s just incredible to see them go on that journey emotionally. From them thinking ‘This isn’t working, I can’t do it, my body is failing me’, to ‘Actually I understand this now and it’s something I can do and I know what I need to do’ is incredible.
From a practical sense, how do you organise yourselves and your volunteer hours?
So, we have a rota that gets sent out every month and we sign up for the days that we can do. We have to do 4 hours a month, but most of us go over that requirement anyway. We just write down the days that we can do – I usually volunteer once a week. Other people go in the evenings or weekends.
Once we’re on the ward, we speak to the instant feeding team, speak to the midwives, let them know we’re there and how long for. We also ask them if there’s any mums who could benefit from our support, and usually they’re like ‘YES!’ haha. We then get a list of mums to go and see, a bit of history about them and what their situation is. We can also look at their files to see how their feeding’s being going and what kind of support they’ve had prior to us arriving – it all helps us pick up a conversation with them.
Do you mainly help new mums or is it a mix?
A lot of the mums we see are first-time mums, sometimes we see mums who have had previous children, or maybe they didn’t breastfeed the first ones and they’re really wanting to do it this time, so they’ve got an extra drive. Or maybe breastfeeding did go well for them the first time but for some reason it’s not happening with this baby, and that can be really confusing for them. We help anyone we can.
The last part of our interview was actually cut short by a fellow ‘WellFest’ attendee, interrupting us to speak to Sam herself so we didn’t get to ask our final question. However, what this anonymous person said was so lovely and so perfectly encapsulated the importance of volunteering, that we’ll end this interview article with her quote instead:
“Can I just say, I’m not having a baby and I didn’t breastfeed, but maybe if I’d had you around I might’ve done. I think you’re absolutely fantastic.”
If you are interested in becoming a Breastfeeding peer supporter or would like more information, please contact natasha.easter@nnuh.nhs.uk or infantfeedingco-ordinators@nnuh.nhs.uk