Cork's Sonia O'Sullivan: ‘Breastfeeding made things easier'

To mark National Breastfeeding Week, Olympic athlete Sonia O’Sullivan spoke with Michelle McNamara, HSE South West Health Promotion department, about her breastfeeding journey.

Sonia O’Sullivan’s two daughters were born in different countries; Ciara in the UK, and Sophie in Australia. During both her pregnancies, Sonia prepared to breastfeed and she said she just “went with the flow”.

“There was never any discussion not to breastfeed and that was 26 years ago,”she said.

Sonia’s main support in the first few days after the girls were born was from the midwives in the hospitals she attended, and then, “I was left to figure it out and find out what worked for me and the girls.”

This reflects what many infant feeding specialists understand, which is that no two breastfeeding journeys are the same, and everyone’s breastfeeding journey has to settle into itself.

There are now far more supports available to new parents – in the HSE South West region (Cork and Kerry) there are five infant feeding and more than 27 weekly breastfeeding support groups.

Asked if she had any reservations about breastfeeding and the impact it would have on her training and performance, Sonia said: “I had no reservations or concerns. I saw breastfeeding as something that is all part of the pregnancy cycle and helps the mother to complete the circle of new life with their new baby.”

She returned to exercise as soon as she could after both births.

“I started back exercise pretty much as soon as I could after the birth, there were no complications, so in that sense things were pretty straightforward. After Ciara was born, I started walking from day one and gradually built up to one-hour walks and core exercises. I started back jogging easy after nine days and kept increasing the time over three weeks before adding in some intensity and faster-paced runs.”

Sonia said that after Sophie was born, she focused more on core strength in the initial days and walking.

“After a week, I was able to start back with easy 30-minute training runs. Most of the time, I just listened to my body and adapted as I got used to returning to running, training, and competing. The positive changes and improvement every week kept me motivated as I never could tell how much better I would feel each week, and generally it was always improving and being able to exercise regularly and getting back into a good routine helped me to also sleep better at night.”

As an athlete, routine is everything, and Sonia explained that once adopted, breastfeeding was built into her daily routine.

“Breastfeeding made things easier, as often for training and my first few races back, it was a relief to offload some milk before going running. I often fed my children within an hour of going for a run or race!”

Asked if she has any advice for expectant mothers, Sonia said she would encourage people to consider breastfeeding.

“I’d encourage everyone to be open minded about breastfeeding and see it as a natural thing to do. It’s convenient, efficient, and really helps you as a mother to get back to pre-pregnancy shape in a very short time.”

Sonia took time out of her schedule to promote breastfeeding this week and has occasionally attended the Cobh Breastfeeding support group in Cobh Primary care centre, run by the Public Health Nursing Team in Cobh Health Centre.

Anita Bane, Public Health Nurse/ IBCLC, said:“Sonia is a wonderful advocate for breastfeeding and it is always exciting to meet her at the Primary Care Centre when she comes to chat with mums. Breastfeeding and expectant mums are welcome to attend our group in Cobh Primary Care Centre on Wednesdays at 11am, no appointment is required, just turn up and you never know who you might meet on the day!”

• National Breastfeeding week runs from October 1 and 7, with a schedule of events in Cork and Kerry including two public webinars which are free to join - a breastfeeding and medication information session with ‘The Fantastic Pharmacist’ Laura Dowling today (Wednesday, October 1) at 11am and ‘Navigating the first 100 days, survival tips for new parents’ with neonatologist and lactation consultant Dr Afif Elkhuffash on Tuesday, October 7.
• See https://publuu.com/flip-book/376708/2080271