What an impressive juggling act! Hats off to you. You’re doing important work!
Let me tell you about a few of the resources available for you locally:
• UNC Student Parent Association
• UNC Parenting Resource Guide is a great way to get oriented about services available to you through UNC and in the community at large.
• List of lactation spaces on UNC Campus
• La Leche League of Chapel Hill is a group where experienced mothers support women who are figuring breastfeeding out.
Personally, I didn’t really know much about breastfeeding until I trained as a doula (a doula stays with a laboring woman, not as part of the healthcare team, but as an attendant who provides emotional, physical & informational support). I was blown away when I learned about the emotional, nutritional, and health benefits for women & children that come through breastfeeding. • The physical contact helps women and babies bond. • The baby receives IgA antibodies through the mother’s breast milk that provide a natural passive immunity while the baby’s own immune system gets up & running. • Babies instinctively drink the right quantity of breast milk, so they reduce their risk of over-nourishment. • When babies latch on to the nipple, breast milk goes right down their throats without lingering in the mouth so the risk of dental cavities is reduced.
• Breastfeeding helps women lose weight after pregnancy and reduces risk of breast cancer and ovarian cancer.