“Day Stay” provides the chance for newly postpartum mums with sleep, baby-wearing, settling and breastfeeding issues to receive guidance and advice from postpartum experts Alyssa Booth and Louise David in a relaxed setting. Photo: Day Stay.
If you’ve had a baby, you’ve probably experienced it – breastfeeding or settling issues which, once addressed by a professional, promptly (and infuriatingly) return at the next feed or nap time.
It’s something Illawarra doula, baby-wearing educator and founder of Cherish Birth Alyssa Booth hears all the time from clients.
“Their questions and concerns are always the same, but typically the appointments they have with their GPs and midwives last 15 minutes to an hour, and that’s often not enough time to observe their problem, let alone begin to address it,” she says.
“They’re spending hundreds of dollars on these appointments and not getting relief.”
The feedback was echoed by the clients of Wollongong midwife and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant Louise David, and the two women decided to combine their considerable skills to do something about it.
As of this Friday (26 July), newly postpartum mums with sleep, baby-wearing, settling and breastfeeding issues will be able to seek affordable support at monthly “Day Stay” clinics, held at Alyssa’s Port Kembla studio.
Over five hours the program – the first of its kind in the Illawarra – allows Louise and Alyssa to observe multiple feeds and settlings in a relaxed non-clinical setting, with no GP referral required.
Here, up to five mums can have all their questions and concerns answered by these two postpartum experts, seek advice and connect with other mothers at a similar stage.
Alyssa and Louise employ group and one-to-one sessions to help address common concerns around breastfeeding, sleeping, perinatal mental health, baby carrying and more.
New mum Nathania is looking forward to taking her nine-week-old Eden Rose to the inaugural Day Stay on Friday.
“Eden and I have had a rough up-and-down breastfeeding journey, with lots of latching problems. She latched initially but then the wheels started to come off at around the week and a half mark,” she says.
“It continued to evolve, each week brought a new challenge. We reached the point where we were exclusively lying down for feeding. I have a toddler as well, so that’s not ideal.
“I could give up any day now, it’s that stressful. But I really do want to breastfeed if I can; I just want it to be a pleasant experience for us both.
“At one stage I saw Louise and she noticed that Eden has a ‘high palate’. I am looking forward to spending more time with her to troubleshoot, and hopefully get us back on track.”
Nathania is far from alone. The majority of Australian women (96 per cent) initiate breastfeeding but this percentage declines to 39 per cent by three months, and only 15.4 per cent of babies are exclusively breastfed to six months of age.
One in five women experience perinatal anxiety or depression and up to 80 per cent of women experience the “baby blues”.
Louise says the statistics are abysmal considering the majority of issues can be addressed, and that it’s symptomatic of disjointed care.
“Most women in the publicly-funded system don’t get one particular midwife, and when they leave the hospital they’re out on their own and it’s up to them to find the person who can help them,” she says.
“When women come to see me in my clinic, I have them for one hour. We can tackle a lot of things, and learn new techniques but the difficulty is to replicate that once they’re home. The Day Stay allows me to delve deeper into breastfeeds and sleep, and spend more time learning about their births and how that has had a knock-on effect postpartum.”
The inaugural Day Stay is booked out, but new mums can follow Alyssa Booth on Instagram and Louise David on Facebook to stay up to date with the next release date, and book via Louise David Private Midwife and Lactation Consultant or Illawarra birth Classes.
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