Nina Dufrenne, a young mother, recalls the pressure she felt from others. Childcare and breastfeeding were the main concerns. Since breastfeeding and pumping require a lot of energy, especially with three babies at once, Nina has been told multiple times that triplet mothers rarely choose to exclusively breastfeed.
Nina wanted to prove by her own example that it is possible to exclusively breastfeed triplets, despite the benefits of different feeding methods in different situations. As a result, she posted several TikTok videos depicting her typical day, which includes taking care of her babies and continuously expressing breast milk. This is both impressive and surprising, once again showing that for a woman, a mother, nothing is impossible.
The triplets were immediately taken to the intensive care unit after birth, where they were put on ventilators. Nina was terrified and constantly worried about her children, wanting to do everything she could to help them. “All I could do for them was express breast milk for feeding,” Nina explains, “which is why I am emotionally attached to this process.”
Nina’s maternal instincts kicked in, and she began to regularly express breast milk for her babies. As shown in the TikTok videos, this is a daily, challenging, and laborious task, but it’s worth it. Despite the many people trying to discourage her, Nina continued.
People told the young mother, “If you feed the babies a special formula, they will be discharged from the ICU soon.” But Nina didn’t even consider it. She was determined to solely breastfeed her babies, even though it was the most difficult option.
The babies were born at 29 weeks gestation. The young mother understands that breastfeeding is the best way to bond with her newborns, so she started expressing milk daily. However, it seemed like those around her were waiting for her to fail and not have enough milk for all three babies.
Nina says, “Many people doubted my decision, but for the past six months, I have been exclusively breastfeeding my babies and everything is going well.”
In the hospital, where she was told, “We haven’t seen a mother successfully breastfeed triplets exclusively, but you can try,” Nina heard numerous comments on the matter.
Millions of people have watched Nina’s TikTok videos, which is a great encouragement for expectant mothers of twins, triplets, or more.
“It was hard to find information about breastfeeding triplets when I was pregnant,” Nina wants to show other mothers that it’s possible.
“Breastfeeding isn’t the only way to feed babies, and situations vary. But if you can breastfeed despite the doubts of others, you should be proud.”
“I had to learn to ignore the negativity. Sometimes, I produced more milk than needed, and other times, I struggled to get enough. Having a stash of frozen milk came in handy.”
Breastfeeding triplets is a challenging and responsible task, but Nina’s videos and photos prove that it’s not impossible for mothers to do it!
