| Café La Leche Merton in Wimbledon |
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"Where to start?... Café La Leche Merton has the privilege of having wonderful leaders, that don’t stop giving away their lllove, thoughts and valuable information if needed. The atmosphere of the monthly meetings is very friendly and you really feel welcome as a part of the big family of women who had decided to breastfeed theiroffspring. All questions get answered and the issues resolved whether they are big or small. Some of it might take time but rest assured that you will have the best support available. My breastfeeding/ mothering journey hasn’t been without any problems or doubts but thanks to the leaders and other mothers who attend the meetings regularly I can enjoy it fully and stop being afraid of tomorrow because I know there will be help if I need it." Michaela
"Coming to the Café La Leche Merton was one of the best things I did for Abigail and I wish I'd come sooner. You listened and supported us and were more knowledgeable about her breastfeeding problems than all the midwives, health visitors and doctors who had seen her put together. It's also so nice to meet people with like minded views about raising children too." Kate
"No amount of books, web resources or antenatal training can quite prepare us for the challenges and subtleties involved in breastfeeding a newborn baby. I attended my first Café La Leche Merton meeting when our daughter was just four weeks old, and left feeling both relieved and hugely inspired. Relieved that so many mothers had experienced issues similar to mine (the difficulty of night feeds, inadequate latch, expressing...) and inspired by the fact that so many ingenious ideas could be found to address them. It also firmly grounded by desire to breastfeed my daughter as long as possible. I was impressed with the quality of knowledge and advice they delivered. Their experience, attention to detail and even international background meant they were able to provide me with a holistic and comprehensive assessment of the breastfeeding difficulties I was facing and direct me to the most appropriate additional sources of help. I would say that LLL's work really does help us fine-tune what should be considered an art in constant progression - only through patience and practice can it be mastered while no day resembles the next." Gwenaëlle
"I have attended the Café La Leche Merton with my daughter whom I breastfed and, more recently, with my baby son. During that time I have witnessed many different mothers and babies benefitting from the information and support; practical and emotional that LLL provides. from anxious mums with babies just a few days old and struggling to latch, to mothers and their breastfeeding toddlers, tandem feeders and every kind of breastfeeder variation in between. We have discussed everything from night feeding and breastfeeding toddlers in public to tandem feeding and blocked ducts. We have shared poems, watched baby weaning DVDS, drank tea and been inspired and comforted. The Café La Leche is a vital hub of information, breastfeeding support and a lovely social circle for breastfeeding mums and their children led by an inspired leader. " Nadia Raafat, mother of 4 breast-fed babies
"I am still taking several galactogogues and I am producing more milk and giving it to my baby. I have not given up!!!! I feel our breastfeeding relationship has greatly improved and I have totaly accepted my current situation and my role as a breastfeeding mother. I would like to thank you Café La Leche for all the faith, strength and courage you gave me to not accept all the floating information we are all surrounded by. In addition, thank you for helping me not accept all the wrong advice that wrongly informed people gave me. You helped me open my eyes and realise that I could do it, that I could breastfeed if I really wanted to. Every day I still fight but I can say without any doubt that there is nothing as beautiful as seeing my baby breastfeed. Even though it may be partially for now, I have come to accept that there are many definitions of a breastfeeding mother." Monika
"How many babies did you see breast feed today?
In the whole of my life (all 43 years of it) I had only ever seen one woman breast feed briefly. As a result, breast feeding becomes an unusual and rather mysterious phenomenon. I never thought that I wouldn’t be able to breast feed and when I was unable to get my son to feed, the LLL leader worked miracles and patiently showed me that it was possible. La Leche League gave me the opportunity to be amongst a group of women who could share first hand information and experiences. It also enabled me to see older children feed and to discuss the different stages as a child grows.
My child is now nearly 2 and I consider breast feeding a normal part of our day. I am aware that Western culture does not generally believe that a toddler needs breast milk so it is good to know that there is a supportive group in LLL no matter where we may travel." Maria
"I dont know how to start to thank you! God sometimes puts angels in our lives, and I am so lucky to receive this grace. I will always remember you when I think about the first few days and weeks of my baby. All your support, attention and LLLove. I hope that wherever you decide to put this present, when you look at it you will always remember how amazing you are to help and change the lives of so many mums and babies. Thank you!" Liliana
"I wanted to say how much coming to that one meeting when I was still pregnant, really helped me. And a big thank you to all the mothers who shared their experiences.
I found it very difficult to breastfeed, along with the baby blues, the shooting pains and the stress of it all. I just kept thinking about what challanges the other mothers had faced which I heard at the meeting and persevered. I almost gave up however so glad I didn't. It's an absolute joy breastfeeding my son now who is 4 months.
I have 5 friends who have had babies around the same time and unfortunately only one of them has continued to breastfeed. The others faced similar challenges to mine and gave up. I feed very sad that I was not able to help them in time. When I told them about LLL they hadn't heard of the organisation. So I decided anytime I even hear of a friend or relative being pregnant I shall put them in touch with LLL so they can prepare and attend a few meetings before they start to breast feed so they have a support system in place. Thank you ever so much again." Dinaz
"Thank you so much for everything you and the Café La Leche Merton did for me and Fletcher. Our breastfeeding journey would not have been the same without the support I received and I’m so grateful. I’m proud to say he’s just turned 13 months and I’m still feeding him twice a day. I’m working 3 days a week and making it work around that. I’ve agreed with my boss not to do any evening events until May so I can be home to feed him every night, then if I have to attend a few after that point, I guess it just might kick start weaning, but gradually." Jenner
"I also wanted to send you my thanks.... You may recall I was one of the pregnant ladies at the last meeting. My baby was breech, but we were still hopefully he would turn in time for a natural birth. following every trick in the book, including 2 ECVs, he didn't turn and was born by c section on Monday 2nd June. A beautiful baby - Sebastian Aidan Graves - 6lbs 3oz. After a few hours he had his first feed and latched on exceptionally well. However after feeding for 6 minutes he turned blue, and we realised something serious was wrong.
It turned out he had a condition whereby his oesophagus had not attached to his stomach, and his stomach had instead attached to his trachea. He was taken to a surgical unit in Brighton on Monday night and on Tuesday underwent a 4 hour procedure to correct the problem. He was ventilated and sedated following a successful operation, and last night woke up and is now doing everything by himself.
He has been receiving basic nutrition via an IV, but today will start to receive my milk via a tube through his nose. I know he is ready for this, as this morning has been In his incubator rooting , rolling his eyes, yawning and sticking his tongue out. He is starving!
The reason I need to thank you is that because of your amazing advice, I already had 30 mls of brand new colostrum ready before he was even born. This also made it easier to express after he was born... It was tough as I was under extreme stress and separated from him, but I did all the things you suggested like relaxing, listening to music, looking at pictures of him etc. my milk is ready to come in now, and we have over 1 litre of colostrum / early milk frozen for him to fatten up on in the meantime.
I am so grateful to you for the help - I feel like a guardian angel sent me to you!
I am sure we are going to need support over the coming weeks, as we definitely need to make up for lost time, so I will try everything to attend your next LLL session. In the meantime I have asked the hospital to practice NNS on him so that he will associate sucking with feeding, and we can get the best possible start when he can go back on the breast.
Thank you again for everything." Dee
"My sweet son had to stay in NICU separated from me for three days after birth while being fed by a glucose IV for precautionary tests that thankfully all had healthy results. Once I was able to try breastfeeding, it took us a couple of days for my sleepy boy to be able to feed. I was fortunate to be in Chelsea and Westminster hospital where they have 24 hours doula support who were dedicated to helping us learn how to breastfeed. All seemed fine when we left the hospital after our five day stay and I thought what more could I know about breastfeeding after having so much support. I now know that there can be so much more to breastfeeding than a just proper latch.
Feeding was going well until Aidan was about three weeks old. Around three weeks, he began nursing for more than an hour at each frequent feed, but was barely gaining any weight. I would go to the baby clinic each week to have him weighed and went to a couple of NCT breastfeeding drop-ins for guidance. All were helpful, but it wasn't until I called the La Leche League helpline when Aidan was about 6 weeks old that I received the more personalised help that we really needed. At that stage I was not only sore, but incredibly injured and found feeding excruciating to the point of tears.
Thankfully, Café La Leche Merton was that week and after meeting the LLL leader, we had such a breakthrough. The very first week after applying the information the leaders gave me, Aidan's weight gain was back to normal. Throughout our weeks of working together, we unfolded many layers of factors that kept causing us difficulty, but if it weren't for Indira and Café La Leche Merton, I don't think we would have been able to breastfeed beyond eight weeks. There are no words for how helpful, amazingly supportive and knowledgable the LLL leader has been and I cannot thank her and Café La Leche enough. My advice to nursing mothers is to meet your local Café La Leche group before giving birth and to reach out for support if breastfeeding isn't a completely joyful experience. It can be with knowledgeable and caring support." Somer
"When I came to lll wimbledon my daughter Mari was 5 weeks old and breastfeeding was so painful I had been expressing and bottle feeding her the expressed milk. It was so tiring I was at the point where I was ready to give up if lll could not help me. It was my last chance.
Then I met the LLL leader and she helped me with latch and being able to breatsfeed with less pain immediately. She also suggested Mari might have a tongue tie.. No wonder I was in so much pain! I got a referral to my local Tongue Tie clinic for the tongue tie procedure the following week. After the procedure things have slowly improved and I'm now breast feeding her practically pain free and I'm only expressing once a day so my husband can continue to feed Mari one bottle each evening. I hope to be completely pain free shortly. I'm so happy that lll have helped me to achieve my dream of breastfeeding my daughter and I hope to continue for many months more." Joanne
It was the LLL leader from Café La Leche Merton leader, who invited me to come to one of the meetings. By that time I was breastfeeding my 2,5 year old son and expecting another one, planning to tandem breastfeed. So when I joined the group it wasn't because I was looking for answers but because I wanted to give something back - to be there to listen and share and support. Because that is exactly what I needed when my first son was born. What I didn't expect was a rare gift I got back from being a part of a women-only circle - very powerful and energizing feeling that was helping me in other areas of my life. Vera
"Thank you for hosting a lovely morning! I so enjoyed it. I remember you talking in the past about "your breastfeeding journey"... And what a journey it has been. I am so glad I persisted and breastfed Charles until now. Your help and support has been invaluable. I never would have done it without your kindness and readiness to help. I can remember some desperate moments, and how helpful you were at the end of the phone." Elisabeth
"Your work as a LLL leader is really important and heroic!!!! If I were you I would make sure every pregnant lady knows what you do as I am sure many people would benefit from your expertise as so many people struggle with breastfeeding. I have now seen loads of breastfeeding people for advice and the best advice I received was from you. You were so patient with us, empathetic, knowledgable, trustworthy, warm, grounded, and the list can go on. I would have given up by now if I had not happened upon your help. Every hospital should have a proper lactation consultant on hand. I am going to write to The Conquest Hospital to tell them what I think!" Annalise
"At the first LLL meeting I went to I felt quite horrified when I heard of a mother of a two year old still being woken up in the night several times to feed and thought to myself 'oh gosh that takes it a bit too far I don't think I could do that'. But the breastfeeding path, even though it means I have less independence than non breastfeeding mothers, is incredibly gentle and helps transition the mother as well as the baby. Now I see nursing my older baby as the most natural thing and I feel so pleased and proud of us that we've come this far and that she's so healthy. I now cherish the moments nursing, knowing that I'm holding her close and one day she will have grown up and I'll have the memories of our closeness. It's also worth adding that she was quite clingy and fussy as a very young baby but has blossomed into one of the most gregarious, adventurous, confident and independent babies when I take her to various play groups. I'm sure that the gentle nurturing of breastfeeding has helped bring about this transformation!
I wanted to thank you for all of the wonderful advice and encouragement I received whilst atending the Café la Leche Merton group and I wish you all the very best for forthcoming groups and hope that at some point our paths may cross in the future, perhaps in a future LLL context. I am really grateful for LLL. Your group gave me support I lacked elsewhere to have the courage to continue nursing. So thanks again for all your wisdom, dedication and hospitality and I wish you all the very best!" Rachel
"Coming to the Café La Leche Merton was one of the best things I did for Abigail and I wish I'd come sooner. You listened and supported us and were more knowledgeable about her breastfeeding problems than all the midwives, health visitors and doctors who had seen her put together. It's also so nice to meet people with like minded views about raising children too." Kate
"No amount of books, web resources or antenatal training can quite prepare us for the challenges and subtleties involved in breastfeeding a newborn baby. I attended my first Café La Leche Merton meeting when our daughter was just four weeks old, and left feeling both relieved and hugely inspired. Relieved that so many mothers had experienced issues similar to mine (the difficulty of night feeds, inadequate latch, expressing...) and inspired by the fact that so many ingenious ideas could be found to address them. It also firmly grounded by desire to breastfeed my daughter as long as possible. I was impressed with the quality of knowledge and advice they delivered. Their experience, attention to detail and even international background meant they were able to provide me with a holistic and comprehensive assessment of the breastfeeding difficulties I was facing and direct me to the most appropriate additional sources of help. I would say that LLL's work really does help us fine-tune what should be considered an art in constant progression - only through patience and practice can it be mastered while no day resembles the next." Gwenaëlle
"I have attended the Café La Leche Merton with my daughter whom I breastfed and, more recently, with my baby son. During that time I have witnessed many different mothers and babies benefitting from the information and support; practical and emotional that LLL provides. from anxious mums with babies just a few days old and struggling to latch, to mothers and their breastfeeding toddlers, tandem feeders and every kind of breastfeeder variation in between. We have discussed everything from night feeding and breastfeeding toddlers in public to tandem feeding and blocked ducts. We have shared poems, watched baby weaning DVDS, drank tea and been inspired and comforted. The Café La Leche is a vital hub of information, breastfeeding support and a lovely social circle for breastfeeding mums and their children led by an inspired leader. " Nadia Raafat, mother of 4 breast-fed babies
"I am still taking several galactogogues and I am producing more milk and giving it to my baby. I have not given up!!!! I feel our breastfeeding relationship has greatly improved and I have totaly accepted my current situation and my role as a breastfeeding mother. I would like to thank you Café La Leche for all the faith, strength and courage you gave me to not accept all the floating information we are all surrounded by. In addition, thank you for helping me not accept all the wrong advice that wrongly informed people gave me. You helped me open my eyes and realise that I could do it, that I could breastfeed if I really wanted to. Every day I still fight but I can say without any doubt that there is nothing as beautiful as seeing my baby breastfeed. Even though it may be partially for now, I have come to accept that there are many definitions of a breastfeeding mother." Monika
"How many babies did you see breast feed today?
In the whole of my life (all 43 years of it) I had only ever seen one woman breast feed briefly. As a result, breast feeding becomes an unusual and rather mysterious phenomenon. I never thought that I wouldn’t be able to breast feed and when I was unable to get my son to feed, the LLL leader worked miracles and patiently showed me that it was possible. La Leche League gave me the opportunity to be amongst a group of women who could share first hand information and experiences. It also enabled me to see older children feed and to discuss the different stages as a child grows.
My child is now nearly 2 and I consider breast feeding a normal part of our day. I am aware that Western culture does not generally believe that a toddler needs breast milk so it is good to know that there is a supportive group in LLL no matter where we may travel." Maria
"I dont know how to start to thank you! God sometimes puts angels in our lives, and I am so lucky to receive this grace. I will always remember you when I think about the first few days and weeks of my baby. All your support, attention and LLLove. I hope that wherever you decide to put this present, when you look at it you will always remember how amazing you are to help and change the lives of so many mums and babies. Thank you!" Liliana
"I wanted to say how much coming to that one meeting when I was still pregnant, really helped me. And a big thank you to all the mothers who shared their experiences.
I found it very difficult to breastfeed, along with the baby blues, the shooting pains and the stress of it all. I just kept thinking about what challanges the other mothers had faced which I heard at the meeting and persevered. I almost gave up however so glad I didn't. It's an absolute joy breastfeeding my son now who is 4 months.
I have 5 friends who have had babies around the same time and unfortunately only one of them has continued to breastfeed. The others faced similar challenges to mine and gave up. I feed very sad that I was not able to help them in time. When I told them about LLL they hadn't heard of the organisation. So I decided anytime I even hear of a friend or relative being pregnant I shall put them in touch with LLL so they can prepare and attend a few meetings before they start to breast feed so they have a support system in place. Thank you ever so much again." Dinaz
"Thank you so much for everything you and the Café La Leche Merton did for me and Fletcher. Our breastfeeding journey would not have been the same without the support I received and I’m so grateful. I’m proud to say he’s just turned 13 months and I’m still feeding him twice a day. I’m working 3 days a week and making it work around that. I’ve agreed with my boss not to do any evening events until May so I can be home to feed him every night, then if I have to attend a few after that point, I guess it just might kick start weaning, but gradually." Jenner
"I also wanted to send you my thanks.... You may recall I was one of the pregnant ladies at the last meeting. My baby was breech, but we were still hopefully he would turn in time for a natural birth. following every trick in the book, including 2 ECVs, he didn't turn and was born by c section on Monday 2nd June. A beautiful baby - Sebastian Aidan Graves - 6lbs 3oz. After a few hours he had his first feed and latched on exceptionally well. However after feeding for 6 minutes he turned blue, and we realised something serious was wrong.
It turned out he had a condition whereby his oesophagus had not attached to his stomach, and his stomach had instead attached to his trachea. He was taken to a surgical unit in Brighton on Monday night and on Tuesday underwent a 4 hour procedure to correct the problem. He was ventilated and sedated following a successful operation, and last night woke up and is now doing everything by himself.
He has been receiving basic nutrition via an IV, but today will start to receive my milk via a tube through his nose. I know he is ready for this, as this morning has been In his incubator rooting , rolling his eyes, yawning and sticking his tongue out. He is starving!
The reason I need to thank you is that because of your amazing advice, I already had 30 mls of brand new colostrum ready before he was even born. This also made it easier to express after he was born... It was tough as I was under extreme stress and separated from him, but I did all the things you suggested like relaxing, listening to music, looking at pictures of him etc. my milk is ready to come in now, and we have over 1 litre of colostrum / early milk frozen for him to fatten up on in the meantime.
I am so grateful to you for the help - I feel like a guardian angel sent me to you!
I am sure we are going to need support over the coming weeks, as we definitely need to make up for lost time, so I will try everything to attend your next LLL session. In the meantime I have asked the hospital to practice NNS on him so that he will associate sucking with feeding, and we can get the best possible start when he can go back on the breast.
Thank you again for everything." Dee
"My sweet son had to stay in NICU separated from me for three days after birth while being fed by a glucose IV for precautionary tests that thankfully all had healthy results. Once I was able to try breastfeeding, it took us a couple of days for my sleepy boy to be able to feed. I was fortunate to be in Chelsea and Westminster hospital where they have 24 hours doula support who were dedicated to helping us learn how to breastfeed. All seemed fine when we left the hospital after our five day stay and I thought what more could I know about breastfeeding after having so much support. I now know that there can be so much more to breastfeeding than a just proper latch.
Feeding was going well until Aidan was about three weeks old. Around three weeks, he began nursing for more than an hour at each frequent feed, but was barely gaining any weight. I would go to the baby clinic each week to have him weighed and went to a couple of NCT breastfeeding drop-ins for guidance. All were helpful, but it wasn't until I called the La Leche League helpline when Aidan was about 6 weeks old that I received the more personalised help that we really needed. At that stage I was not only sore, but incredibly injured and found feeding excruciating to the point of tears.
Thankfully, Café La Leche Merton was that week and after meeting the LLL leader, we had such a breakthrough. The very first week after applying the information the leaders gave me, Aidan's weight gain was back to normal. Throughout our weeks of working together, we unfolded many layers of factors that kept causing us difficulty, but if it weren't for Indira and Café La Leche Merton, I don't think we would have been able to breastfeed beyond eight weeks. There are no words for how helpful, amazingly supportive and knowledgable the LLL leader has been and I cannot thank her and Café La Leche enough. My advice to nursing mothers is to meet your local Café La Leche group before giving birth and to reach out for support if breastfeeding isn't a completely joyful experience. It can be with knowledgeable and caring support." Somer
"When I came to lll wimbledon my daughter Mari was 5 weeks old and breastfeeding was so painful I had been expressing and bottle feeding her the expressed milk. It was so tiring I was at the point where I was ready to give up if lll could not help me. It was my last chance.
Then I met the LLL leader and she helped me with latch and being able to breatsfeed with less pain immediately. She also suggested Mari might have a tongue tie.. No wonder I was in so much pain! I got a referral to my local Tongue Tie clinic for the tongue tie procedure the following week. After the procedure things have slowly improved and I'm now breast feeding her practically pain free and I'm only expressing once a day so my husband can continue to feed Mari one bottle each evening. I hope to be completely pain free shortly. I'm so happy that lll have helped me to achieve my dream of breastfeeding my daughter and I hope to continue for many months more." Joanne
It was the LLL leader from Café La Leche Merton leader, who invited me to come to one of the meetings. By that time I was breastfeeding my 2,5 year old son and expecting another one, planning to tandem breastfeed. So when I joined the group it wasn't because I was looking for answers but because I wanted to give something back - to be there to listen and share and support. Because that is exactly what I needed when my first son was born. What I didn't expect was a rare gift I got back from being a part of a women-only circle - very powerful and energizing feeling that was helping me in other areas of my life. Vera
"Thank you for hosting a lovely morning! I so enjoyed it. I remember you talking in the past about "your breastfeeding journey"... And what a journey it has been. I am so glad I persisted and breastfed Charles until now. Your help and support has been invaluable. I never would have done it without your kindness and readiness to help. I can remember some desperate moments, and how helpful you were at the end of the phone." Elisabeth
"Your work as a LLL leader is really important and heroic!!!! If I were you I would make sure every pregnant lady knows what you do as I am sure many people would benefit from your expertise as so many people struggle with breastfeeding. I have now seen loads of breastfeeding people for advice and the best advice I received was from you. You were so patient with us, empathetic, knowledgable, trustworthy, warm, grounded, and the list can go on. I would have given up by now if I had not happened upon your help. Every hospital should have a proper lactation consultant on hand. I am going to write to The Conquest Hospital to tell them what I think!" Annalise
"At the first LLL meeting I went to I felt quite horrified when I heard of a mother of a two year old still being woken up in the night several times to feed and thought to myself 'oh gosh that takes it a bit too far I don't think I could do that'. But the breastfeeding path, even though it means I have less independence than non breastfeeding mothers, is incredibly gentle and helps transition the mother as well as the baby. Now I see nursing my older baby as the most natural thing and I feel so pleased and proud of us that we've come this far and that she's so healthy. I now cherish the moments nursing, knowing that I'm holding her close and one day she will have grown up and I'll have the memories of our closeness. It's also worth adding that she was quite clingy and fussy as a very young baby but has blossomed into one of the most gregarious, adventurous, confident and independent babies when I take her to various play groups. I'm sure that the gentle nurturing of breastfeeding has helped bring about this transformation!
I wanted to thank you for all of the wonderful advice and encouragement I received whilst atending the Café la Leche Merton group and I wish you all the very best for forthcoming groups and hope that at some point our paths may cross in the future, perhaps in a future LLL context. I am really grateful for LLL. Your group gave me support I lacked elsewhere to have the courage to continue nursing. So thanks again for all your wisdom, dedication and hospitality and I wish you all the very best!" Rachel
