I read somewhere that breastfeeding is probably one of the most precious gift a mother can give to her child and to herself.

I didn't believe in it as much till I became a pregnant and started looking forward to holding my baby in my arms and feed her. But to my dismay initial days I just couldn't breastfeed her. I had flat nipple on one breast and inverted on the other.

Initially there were troubles like soreness of nipples, cuts, bleeding which I thought could be overcome by basic remedies and ointments but that did not happen.

It was then that my friend recommended me to visit a lactation consultant. I called one at home, she helped me with correct positions and latch and my pain and soreness reduced but still the journey wasn't pain free.

Someone then told me to visit Dr. Manisha. Now looking back, I think that was a smartest decision I made. My baby was already 2.5 months then and I had somewhere made up my mind to start formula post 3 months as I couldn't continue to suffer the pain too long. It was not only affecting baby's health but my health as well.

Dr. Manisha diagnosed that my daughter had a tongue tie. I had got it assessed from my pediatrician earlier, but pediatricians aren't breast feeding specialists. They don't assess things the way a lactation consultant would do and that's where I suffered. My pediatrician told me, tongue tie had nothing to do with breastfeeding, infact I was told there is no tongue tie at all!

With Dr. Manisha's guidance, we got her operated for tongue tie. She worked with me throughout on helping my daughter recover her wound, improve my baby's latch and let me know what actually breastfeeding feels like. I never knew the importance of a lactation counsellor till then. She was warm, positive and very calm to talk to, to share our concerns and work towards solving them. Something that every struggling, tired and overwhelmed mother needs.

My daughter is 5 months now and am happy that she is still exclusively on breast milk.. direct feeding. Not that it would be anything wrong if she wasn't direct fed but the happiness is I could decide what I wanted to for my baby and wasn't forced to shift to bottle feeding or formula. I got the option to make my choices and I can't thank her enough for this.