It is with great pleasure that I welcome Melissa and Bruno, who are the parents of Martin, a beautiful baby exclusively breastfed by his mom. In addition to being the authors of the excellent hit Mamá Blues, which portrays in a fun way the importance of breast milk, they are fully in favor of exclusive breastfeeding, and Melissa is also a donor to her regional milk bank. Do as she does, be a donor of life too! Join the Give Jars of Life campaign! Find out how the song “Mamá Blues” came about and also watch the music video they made. Below is a photo with the song lyrics so you can sing along with them.
Welcome Melissa, Bruno, and Martin!
Trocando Fraldas: Melissa and Bruno, please introduce yourselves
Bruno and Melissa: We are a couple who believe that life can and should be lived with pleasure, emotion, and healthy, stimulating connections. We are engineers and met at work. Our jobs provided us with incredible experiences, such as frequent trips to Africa. Since Martin’s arrival, we’ve wanted to have more quality time for life. So, in addition to doing exciting projects like Mama Blues, we decided to leave everything behind and move to Uruguay, together with our little Martin. We are searching for a different way to live, in line with our values. We’re in the middle of this process of life change, and our experience will be told on the Blog vidaborbulhante.com.br.
Bruno: As for music, it has always been present in my life. My father was the main influence, as he always brought good music into my environment. My house had more guitars than paintings on the walls. Since I was little, I always made lots of parodies and my own compositions, but I am not a professional. I do it just for pleasure.
Melissa: Martin means warrior, and his numerology number is 3, that is, a laid-back guy. So our Martin is our laid-back warrior! He was planned with much love—he was our inspiration for two songs, Mama Blues and Guerreiro Cuca Fresca. He is the light of our lives, along with Leo, his older brother from Bruno’s first marriage.
Trocando Fraldas: How did the idea for Mama Blues come about?
Bruno: One day, I was playing the guitar while Melissa was breastfeeding, and she had the idea to create a song about the theme. We had already, together, written a song for Martin before he was born and that experience was very rewarding. With the arrival of World Breastfeeding Week, the idea got the push it needed. Thanks to Mel’s encouragement, over one weekend, I wrote the lyrics and composed the song, and we recorded it with a cell phone camera at my parents’ house.
Melissa: Our idea with the song was to convey a bit of the contagious and wonderful energy that breastfeeding brings. It is an immense pleasure to see our Martin nursing. Every day, he finds different positions, cute little gestures while feeding. Some days he devours, other times he is more attentive to everything around him. Not to mention the health benefits breastfeeding has brought to both him and me. Bruno would help with the breastfeeding by burping Martin, bringing him to me, and being there close, keeping us company.
Song made, came the challenge of spreading it. After all, for it to make an impact, to really help spread the importance of breastfeeding, it needed to be shared as widely as possible. We are both reserved. While we wanted to show the results of our dedication and support such an important cause, we were also a bit apprehensive about how people would react. At the same time that we wanted to spread the video everywhere, we were afraid of exposure, of being ridiculous. We took a deep breath and started sharing, initially with friends via Facebook, on breastfeeding blogs, sharing and asking people to help spread it. Anyway, as we are seeking new emotions and adventures in life, we decided to face our fears and sent the link to all the people and websites that could help us with this cause.
Just a few days later, the video already had a few hundred views (excluding our fifty-something… The reactions were relatively timid, but all very positive. Then, we received an invitation from the Ministry of Health to sing the song at the launch of the 2014 breastfeeding campaign. We couldn’t have been prouder… contributing to the campaign was amazing!
Trocando Fraldas: Melissa, did you always want to breastfeed? What was your idea of breastfeeding before pregnancy?
Melissa: When I got pregnant, every month I would read and discover new important things about pregnancy and motherhood. In the first months of pregnancy, you don’t think much about breastfeeding. Your worry is that everything is healthy and well with the baby. Breastfeeding only popped into my world of curiosity and concern around the seventh/eighth month.
A lot of what you read on this topic is about negative and poorly-founded issues: milk not coming in, weak milk, improper nipple shape, the baby who doesn’t latch, cracked nipples, etc. So, in my view, there’s often more information about the difficulties of breastfeeding than about the pleasure and benefits of it.
Photo: Ricardo SelingSo, at the end of pregnancy, I was eager to breastfeed and, at the same time, very afraid of having any difficulty, of not managing to do it. I went to a breast doctor to talk about nipples, how to prepare them, etc. He reassured me—nipple shape doesn’t matter, a correct latch is what makes breastfeeding possible, etc. I left the appointment feeling confident and positive that I would be able to breastfeed.
At the same time, since I deeply believe in meditation and that positive thinking attracts positive things, I started meditating about breastfeeding whenever I was going to sleep. I’d lie in bed and imagine milk gushing from my breasts, enough to make a sea of milk! And me and my baby swimming in this sea of milk! Lol! Everyone has their quirks, right?!
Trocando Fraldas: How was the first breastfeeding adjustment? Did you have any setbacks?
Melissa: Martin was born and was soon placed on my chest. He didn’t latch immediately, but on the second try he latched on. I gave birth in a hospital that follows the guideline of keeping the baby with the mother in the room at all times, there was no nursery. So, he stayed with me throughout, and I received a lot of support from the nurses. I learned to position him correctly, how to detach him when he was just comfort nursing too long, and what care I needed to take with my breasts and nipples.
I was advised that feeding on Demand was proven crucial for the baby, so from there I have breastfed on demand until…hum…until today! And as long as he wants! At first, I was a little anxious when he cried for a feed. So sometimes I’d hurry to give the breast, ending up unbuttoning my shirt halfway or just pulling down my bra…a bit rushed you know? This led to a minor case of mastitis when he was about a month old.
I had plenty of milk (I think the meditations worked!) and by not freeing the breast well, the clothing was making milk flow harder. I went to a local milk bank and was literally embraced by the team there. They took care of me and Martin, gave me more guidance, and I left there more confident and secure. I have used the milk bank services several times and, in fact, I am currently a donor.
Watch the video clip with the lyricsTrocando Fraldas: What has breastfeeding changed in your daily routine and your life?
Melissa: Feeding on demand is not easy!! That needs to be said! My baby fed every 2 hours. My breasts got sensitive, and you really have to always be available. But I always saw these hard moments as just phases. This helped me put things into perspective, to have the strength to do what I felt was the right thing and to not give up.
Martin really only changed his nursing habits after 6 months when solids were introduced. Until then, demand was very high. What changed most in my routine was having to be there for him 24 hours a day during the first few months. But at the same time, I always loved breastfeeding, and now that I’m at the baby food stage, I value even more the practicality of breastfeeding. When all he did was nurse, I would go out carefree, knowing that if he got hungry, I just had to feed him! Now, oh my god, I have to carry baby food, bib, water, etc… and he still breastfeeds…
Trocando Fraldas: How does Bruno participate as a father in this family routine?
Melissa: Bruno helped me a lot!! Without him, I think everything would have been much more difficult! Since he worked during the day, his (physical) support was more at night and on weekends. He would get up to bring Martin to me, help with burping, and sometimes just get up to keep us company.
Now, the emotional support was 24/7, every day of the week! I didn’t have postpartum depression, but during the postpartum period, I was more emotional. Sometimes I’d cry for no reason and he’d give me a revitalizing hug. Other times I’d laugh for no reason…lol…and Bruno was always there…giving me strength, words of encouragement, saying he admired me as a mother, that he trusted my decisions, etc. Well, is there anything better than your partner cheering you up like that?! Lol! Anyway, I’m biased, he is the love of my life!
Bruno: The breastfeeding moment is really between mother and child. There’s a unique intimacy and connection. There’s little space left for the father, but I always tried to contribute in my own way, trying to provide the right environment physically and emotionally for that moment. It’s interesting how, when Martin is nursing, we stop and breathe. There’s no room for past or future problems. We live in the present, usually enjoying the silence, the calm… it’s really good!!
Trocando Fraldas: A precious tip from a mom to mothers who are thinking about, want to, or are going to breastfeed.
A tip I consider essential is: seek confidence in what reassures you. A confident mother is already halfway there. So, meditate, read, seek information, talk, go to a milk bank. Connect with people who will encourage you to breastfeed and try to focus on the good things about breastfeeding.
Vida Borbulhante Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vidaborbulhante
See also: Milk Bank – From Collection to Pasteurization
Photos: Personal Collection
