Not only are we in National Volunteering Week, but the start
of June marks my four year anniversary of volunteering as a breastfeeding peer
supporter.
Why did I become a breastfeeding peer supporter?
When I had my eldest, my local breastfeeding support group
in London was a lifeline in helping me get established breastfeeding. And when
I moved to Devon, the breastfeeding group is where I made some of my best
friends. I got so much from the groups that I wanted to give something back and
to help other mums benefit as much as I did. With huge budget cuts in social
and healthcare, volunteers play a vital role in supporting mothers establish
and maintain their breastfeeding journeys. I became quite passionate about
breastfeeding and as I learnt more about the subject from personal experience,
I wanted to share my knowledge with others. But actually, that’s not what being
a breastfeeding peer supporter is about. Peer supporters should try not to
share their personal experiences, because everybody is different. It’s OK to
say something is normal behaviour and to reassure a lady, but it’s not always
helpful to say, “Oh, my baby cluster fed for months.” If you do that, you risk
getting into a competitive situation, which isn’t helpful at all.
How did I become a breastfeeding peer supporter?
When I found out that the local children’s centre was
running a training course for mums to become breastfeeding peer supporters, I
jumped at the chance. A group of around 10 of us attended sessions for around
10 weeks where we learnt about the physiology of breastfeeding, the barriers
mother face to breastfeeding and, most importantly, about how to listen and how
to facilitate a mother to find her own way. Our job is not to advise women, we
are there to provide the information she needs to make her own decisions about
how she feeds her child and to signpost her to additional help and support if
she needs it.
What’s in it for me?
Well, apart from the satisfaction of giving something back
and empowering mums to breastfeed, I have learnt an awful lot. I have gained a
qualification, but I have also developed skills such as listening and asking
open questions to draw information out and to discover the real issues that
women are facing. I have learnt about safeguarding, which is useful in my role
as a school governor. And I have learnt about personal development. I have
definitely developed as a person, but I’ve also learnt about how to encourage
others in their own personal development. I’ve become a lot more respectful of
other people’s decisions and priorities. Ultimately, a parent will always make
a decision about their child based on their knowledge and personal
circumstances at the time. Who are we to judge from an external perspective
when we don’t know the whole story? But that’s perhaps a topic for another blog
post.
What does the future hold?
Well, for the foreseeable future, I’ll continue as a
breastfeeding peer supporter. The role fits in well with my life. I can take my
children to the group with me. I am actually lucky in this as there are many
peer supporters around the country who are not allowed to take children with
them when they volunteer – but how can you demonstrate you are a peer if you’re
not sat there breastfeeding your own child? My youngest doesn’t start school
for a few years yet, but even when he does, I imagine I’ll continue to peer
support because I feel like I’m doing something useful.
Do you volunteer? How do you fit it in to your life?
This is something (bf peer supporting) that still interests me but for now I am a babywearing peer supporter,volunteering with my local sling meet and library in Bracknell. X
ReplyDeleteThis is something (bf peer supporting) that still interests me but for now I am a babywearing peer supporter,volunteering with my local sling meet and library in Bracknell. X
ReplyDeleteI bet you're fab. I've always meant to get along to our local sling meets a bit more regularly, but time always seems to get in the way.
ReplyDeleteNever heard of this before but it seems fab way to meet new people too.
ReplyDeleteCorinne x
www.skinnedcartree.com
It is a good way of meeting people too - not just the mums at the group, but other volunteers at our update training sessions too.
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