Following on from our story on new research carried out by NUK, about women's experiences of breastfeeding, we're featuring a series of case studies from different women.
Rachel Friend is 35. She is mother to Eliza who is two and a half years old, and is 26 weeks pregnant with her second child.
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"As soon as I found out I was pregnant with my second child, one of my first concerns was the fear of not being able to breast feed.
"I had real problems trying to breast feed my first child. It was excruciatingly painful, making it something I absolutely dreaded. I felt there was no break, as the baby needed feeding every three hours, so just as I'd recover from a feed, I'd have to psyche myself up for the next.
"Within four days, I gave up breast feeding and opted for expressing. However, after getting mastitis twice in four weeks, I stopped expressing before my child was six weeks old and transferred to formula milk. This left me feeling like a failure.
"I had no preconception that breast feeding might be difficult, in fact, all the advice had been about the birth only. I am now left feeling very nervous about the prospect of breast feeding my second child, and I'm only 26weeks pregnant!"
It can be heartbreaking for women who are dealing with an inability to breastfeed when the message we all hear is 'breast is best' .
Mastitis can be a common problem and you should go to see your doctor about it quite promptly as safe medication can help clear it up before it turns into something more problematic. One of the key symptoms of Mastitis is feeling run-down - the last thing you need when you have a new baby to care for. For more, go to What is mastitis?.
If you have any problems or questions, or an experience you want to share, you can always join us in the ThinkBaby forums.
You should also talk to the health visitors at your baby clinic - whilst the WHO advice to health workers around the world is that breastfeeding is good practice, health visitors must accept that for some women this is either a problem or impossible. They may be able to put you in touch with other women who are going through the same issues as you.
NUK make various products - from nipple shields to feeding bottles - which can help make breastfeeding easier, smooth the transition to bottle feeding, enable you to combine both or opt for formula bottle feeding, in as natural a way as possible. Their website has some great advice on feeding. Go to www.nukbaby.co.uk.
