'Am I doing something wrong?' New mum shares her struggle with the ‘unspoken reality’ of breastfeeding
Heyona encourages new mums to feel no guilt or shame
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Your support makes all the difference.A new mum has taken to social media to shed light on the reality of breastfeeding as she struggled to produce enough milk for her baby.
Heyona Cho, based in the US, revealed her heartbreak in an emotional Instagram post sharing a photo of herself breastfeeding her son, Bo, who was born on Oct. 26.
“The feeling you get when your newborn cries for milk is hard to describe,” she wrote. “The heartbreak you feel when your newborn cries and you don’t have milk is even harder to describe.”
She goes on to say how she was never told about the challenges of breastfeeding and that it must be an ‘unspoken reality’ for so many new mums.
'When the night hits, I have to make a choice to supplement with formula or let him sleep hungry,' she wrote.
'Or more like wake up every hour, stress and fuss to calm his hungry cries, fight with my loving partner, and feel like a failure - shame.'
Speculating as to why she wasn’t producing milk, she added, 'Will my milk ever come in? Am I doing something wrong?’
Heyona proceeded to other fellow mums that are struggling with the same concerns, encouraging them to feel no guilt or shame.
‘Some things we just cannot control, and so, we will make the best choices that we know how and we will have done it all with love in our hearts.’
At the end of the post, she finishes by saying that her supply is increasing by the day and how the support from a community of fellow mothers has helped her get through these challenges.
Addressing why she decided to voice her struggles on social media Heyona told The Huffington Post, “This very beginning stage of motherhood has taken me by a whirlwind, and I’m floored. I needed a way to articulate this very visceral experience.”
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