Humaira sent her breastfeeding story and talks about the importance of not beating yourself up and getting support from family and friends if you can:

"I had taken a breastfeeding class before I gave birth last November. I felt that the class would prepare me enough so I could breastfeed on my own. The class did help by giving me enough information but when my son was born I knew immediately that my milk supply was not enough for him. I wanted to quit right away and felt extremely depressed that I was not able to give my child something that would really benefit him, was much better and less expensive than the formula.

But thanks to my mom and her emotional support I started supplementing him. I would offer my milk first and then later accompany it with the formula. Although It would take me about 45 minutes to an hour to feed him, I am glad I stuck with it. My son is almost 8 and a half months and I am still breastfeeding and giving him formula.

I know most women like me think that they can exclusively breastfeed and if something goes wrong, like the supply is not enough or they have work related issues, they stop breastfeeding entirely. I want everybody to know that exclusively breastfeeding is great but if you can't do it don't beat yourself up about it. It's OK. Formula is OK. There were days when I felt less of a woman just cause I had to supplement but I guess in the end the quantity doesn't matter. The quality does. At least my son was getting the nutrients from my milk and was not hungry thanks to the formula. Breastfeeding is a hard job and if you can find somebody in your family or a friend to support you then that's great."

Thank you to Humaira for sharing her story. It mirrors what many other women are going through. Best of luck to you and your son in the future.
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