Alone and in pain: one woman's struggle for breastfeeding support

Hannah Wheeler gave birth to her first baby 10 days into lockdown, and was determined to breastfeed. Alone at home, however, she found herself in excruciating pain during every feed.

“I didn’t have any breastfeeding support at all,” she says. “It was lonely. I think that’s the best way to describe it. My husband tried his best to support me but didn’t really understand how to help. I remember sitting in bed trying to feed Arthur and just crying and crying. Not just from the pain, but from the hopelessness.”

After four months of near constant pain when feeding she called the health visitor again, who directed her to local telephone support. Finally, she reached out to a breastfeeding Facebook page and found someone prepared to sit in her garden if she paid her insurance and travel.

The woman gave some pointers and said Arthur may have tongue-tie. Wheeler went back to the health visitor again and managed to get his tongue-tie snipped. “Now here we are, five months after birth, and finally I am pain-free while feeding,” she says.