Why breastfeeding is hard & how to make it easier Welcome to Season 10 Episode 2 of the She Births® Podcast. Today I talk with midwife and lactation consultant, Katie James from The Midwives' Cauldron & The Feeding Couch. Katie has been a midwife for over 23 years and Lactation Consultant for more than 17 years. She teaches midwives, doctors and doulas; as well as thousands of pregnant women and parents. Together we talk about how amazing breastfeeding, lactation and human milk really is. And, we talk about the most common issues women have with feeding and why it is so goddamn hard! There can be so much grief with our feeding journeys for so many women. I recently did a podcast for Katie's show and shared my journey with her and wow…it brought up so much maternal guilt and shame. It was really uncomfortable and felt so important. I really love what she is doing at The Feeding Couch by sharing stories, just like we do birth stories. If you have finished your journey or if you are about to begin your feeding journey, I am sure that you will experience at least one of the issues we discuss. I promise you it will help to be informed now. Make sure you share this with all of your pregnant or wanna be pregnant friends and partners too. Did you know that by the time a baby is 6 months old, more than 80% of mothers have ended their breastfeeding journey and this is not b/c they want to stop Together we talk about the most common issue women stop, nipple pain and trauma plus all the other challenges. How to avoid them all and say no to the extremely common non evidence based forceful techniques and mother baby separation that happens every day in hospitals. Cultural forces and interruptions Low milk supply Tongue ties and lip ties Cracked nipples and how to use nipple shields The importance of skin to skin contact and proper support in the first few hours and first few days Rituals for a gentler approach to weaning I really hope wherever you are on your journey with feeding that this podcast helps to alleviate any of the maternal guilt and shame and allows you to celebrate how amazing we all are in whatever we are able to do. Please share with a friend, review and subscribe as it really helps us deliver more podcasts to more families. You can find Katie at her website. katiejames.site on instagram @katiejameslactation @themidwivescauldron and @thefeedingcouchpodcast.

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