Milkbar Breastpumps | the interview
12:02:00 amRecently I have had the pleasure of working with Diana and Zara from Milkbar Breastpumps. I asked Diana to tell me a little bit about her philosophy and motivation behind the successful brand; here is what she had to say.
“Milkbar Breastpumps is a place for mums to shop, discuss, explore and share the joys and difficulties we experience as mothers. I wanted to create and provide a positive and supportive community for all mothers and their feeding choices, whether you choose to exclusively breastfeed, express, bottle feed, mixed feed or formula feed.
I exclusively breastfed my son for 8 months, pumping twice daily once I returned to work. I have also mixed fed with formula feeds and cow’s milk since my son turned 12 months of age. Aside from learning correct attachment in those early weeks, I have been lucky that breastfeeding came quite easily (although I was shocked with how time consuming it was). My biggest breastfeeding challenge was pumping when I returned to work. Choosing the right pump, how much to express, how often, and scheduling my pumping sessions between work and childcare illness were the issues I faced.
Milkbar offers an online shopping experience that allows mums to research products, read reviews, hear stories from other mums and purchase any necessities all from the one place in the comfort of their home.
Milkbar Breastpumps was launched in late 2015 and we are gearing up for a massive 2016! We will have more brands to choose from and new updates to our website will make it even easier to compare breast pumps. Plus, our breastfeeding resources is growing every week!”
Zara is the writer behind MilkBar Breastpumps blog. As a secondary school teacher for 8 years prior to having her daughter, her career had become a huge part of her identity.
“I didn’t realise how much my social network, home life and focus was on my job until I had to change my priorities once my little girl was born.” Zara said during our interview. She described the transition of career focused woman to stay at home single mother as pure joy yet absolute terror.
Zara battled with isolation and loosing her sense of independence in the early days of becoming a mother; which I'm sure we can all relate to, your whole world has just been turned upside down! What she didn't realise herself was that she was also dealing with a little bundle of joy who had severe sleep issues.
I asked Zara what her biggest piece of advice would be for mothers of children with sleep issues.
“I think my biggest tip would be to not be afraid to ask for help. I was pretty hard on myself for not being able to cope and I felt like I was just complaining – babies don’t sleep, everyone else copes, why can’t you? Plus, you often get told by very caring and well-meaning friends, family, acquaintances and random shop assistants that, “you just need to…” You can’t ‘just’ do anything when you’re that sleep deprived. The biggest revelation for me was when I asked my mum, “What did you do when my brother and I woke up this often?” She just looked at me and said, “You didn’t do this.” I finally realised that I needed help and support and that it was ok to not be coping. Everyone’s experiences are different, if you’re struggling – say so. If you need help – it’s ok to ask for it.”
Zara has breastfed her daughter since she was born; she is currently 13 months old! YOU GO MUMMA. Even though she explained it was not entirely by choice as her little girl refuses a bottle. She is now trading some breast feeds up for expressed milk into a sippy cup; this is helping to begin the weaning process for them both.
Personally I tried to express with Charlie but had no luck with the manual breastpump I was using. I have since purchased an electric pump via Milkbar Breastpumps; I'm so excited to combine pumping into my feeding routine. As I had no idea about expressing I asked Zara how she manages to include pumping into her routine.
“I initially had a lot of difficulty expressing and after the little one refused the bottle, there didn’t seem to be much point. But more recently I’ve been using the Unimom Forte# Hospital Grade Double Electric breast pump and I’ve been really pleased that I persevered and gave it a try. A lot of women express in the morning, but I found it easier to pump in the afternoon during her nap. It was the longest break between breastfeeds and so gave my supply a chance to regroup after her lunch feed and before her dinner feed. It took about a week of regularly pumping at that time and then my body just started producing more milk and I was able to get a good amount of breastmilk from each pumping session. Plus I’d listen to an audiobook or podcast so it was a nice way to make myself slow down and sit still for a little while each day.”
I found Zara so helpful; not only with products related to MilkBar Breastpumps but in general parenting experiences and advice. I highly recommend heading over to http://milkbarbreastpumps.com.au/ and reading her blog.
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