Bossy, bossy midwife. That's the initial takeout we got from the last installment of our birth class last weekend. She was old and she was old school.
We covered all the important stuff like feeding, sleep, calming, post natal depression, vomiting & poo plus the collateral damage from the birth etc etc. She then took us through her 101 class on the best way (ie her way) to fold nappies and get baby on the boob etc. And this lady was the fuehrer of the breast feeding brigade!
Now I am all for breast feeding, it's my intention to breast feed for as long as I can so our little girl has the best start in life. Ok not quite until she starts school but at least for the first 6-12 months if I can. But this midwife would not even entertain the notion that some mums and some bubs don't or can't take to it. I felt sorry for the young, terrified girl who asked the 'What if I can't?' question. "Persevere, persevere, persevere it's worth the effort" and "NO it does not hurt, it's a little uncomfortable at first but you'll soon get the hang of it" were some of her mantras!
She was also horrified at the fact that I would not be able to give birth naturally. She looked at me with such pity and said oh you poor thing, like I was being marched off to be burned at the stake. Luckily for my emotional well being, I had already built a bridge and got over the fact that my baby's birth has had to be scheduled in and it won't be quite the huffy, puffy painful miracle that I had hoped for.
Like most courses and the books I have been reading, I took what I needed out of it and took the rest with a grain of salt. Meanwhile Brett nearly slipped into a coma as I had expected. If he wasn't so enraged at the midwife's bossyness, I probably would have had to call in the resuscitation unit. Lucky for him he is not required at my next class - beast feeding for beginners!
