By Brenda Czeda
It is said that 1 in 8 new mothers will go through a postpartum depression and at times depression may be because of the parenting challenges that parenting brings along and not living according to the standards of what the society expects of new mothers.
Many new moms go through challenges and they feel embarrassed talking about it but this should not be the case, mothers need to come out and talk about what they go through so as encourage other women out there.
April 1st 2019 at exactly 11.44pm was the day my healthy, beautiful ever smiling and joyful baby girl was born. After giving birth, I found myself loving being a new mom for the first three days. As time went by I started disliking the journey of parenthood, not because of the weight I had gained after giving birth but because of the breastfeeding challenges I went through, I felt alone and lonely an experience I did not expect to go through. I desired there had been a written manual for new moms on breastfeeding and lack of sleep.
During my one week stay at Nairobi hospital maternity wing I read several books and watched YouTube videos on breastfeeding, after reading I would get motivated to teach my daughter on how to breastfeed however I got frustrated during the breastfeeding session because my baby would latch badly leaving me with cracked nipples and sore nipples.
My first month of breastfeeding was a nightmare leading to postpartum depression but through counselling and support from my family immediately I began the journey of learning. For close to a week under the instructions of a lactating nurse I was taught how to breastfeed, bath a baby and even massage a newborn.
As I sat on my bed early Monday morning I made a decision to blog about my journey as a new mom. I want to be the voice to so many new mothers who have been going through breastfeeding challenges yet they remain silent for fear of being embarrassed or being termed as failure. Am here to let you know that you are not a failure every woman goes through this especially first time moms
It is okay not to know how to breastfeed and opt to express breastmilk and feed the baby through a bottle, it will not make you less of a parent. However new moms also have the option of consulting lactating nurse on breastfeeding because that’s the route I choose and today my beautiful 4 month old baby is breastfeeding without any challenges.
All new mothers out there you can be self-confident and happy with your role as a mother even if the journey of breastfeeding is not enjoyable. Apart from giving hope, I give real life experience so that other mothers like me can feel encouraged and have greater joy in this journey of parenting.
If you are going through the challenge of enjoying parenthood after giving birth and feel isolated and guilty then I believe ty life story has been an encouragement to you.
Brenda's blog 
