The benefits for babies include fewer ear infections and colds, decreased risk of obesity, diabetes, and auto-immune disorders like eczema and asthma. The benefits for mom include decreased risk of breast and ovarian cancer, faster postpartum weight loss, and fewer days of missed work to stay home with a sick baby.
There are many less tangible benefits as well, such as the bonding that occurs between mother and child.
Breast-feeding can present some challenges, but getting off to the right start is key. In the following you will find my top 10 list for making breast-feeding successful. These recommendations are based on both research and my personal experiences as a midwife and lactation consultant.
Make breast-feeding successful top 10
1. Make the commitment: Ask those around you to speak positively about breast-feeding and ask the hospital to support your choices. Find a pediatrician who supports breastfeeding.
2. Rally your team: Discuss breast-feeding with your partner, and let friends and family know that you will be breast-feeding and that you are looking for support.
3. Put your baby skin-to-skin immediately after birth: Discuss this with your health care team, letting them know that you would like the baby placed directly on your chest while the baby is dried and assessed, unless there is a medical reason to do otherwise.
4. Put the baby to your breast within the first half-hour of birth: Let your birth team know that you will be breast-feeding immediately and you would like help. Ask friends and family for privacy, if needed.
5. Keep the baby on your chest: We often want to wrap babies in blankets and pass them around the room. There will be lots of time for that later. Newborns should stay skin-to-skin with their moms so they can smell your skin and milk and maintain stable vital signs. There will be less crying, too.
6. Ask for the help of a lactation consultant: Many hospitals now have lactation consultants on staff. Ideally, your lactation consultant will be an international board-certified lactation consultant,
or IBCLC, a person who has done many hours of lactation care and passed an international exam in order to become certified. Go to www.ilca.org or www.llli.org (La Leche League) for help.
7. Feed on demand: Most new relationships have some ups and downs, so be patient with yourself and your baby. Your baby is learning a new skill and will want to practice often. Your body is learning how much milk to make, and will need regular reminders to make enough. If your baby is crying to let you know he is hungry, then he has gotten too hungry. There are many early cues of hunger such as licking his lips and putting his hand to his mouth.
8. Sleep when baby sleeps: Lack of sleep makes everything worse. If you need to stay in bed for 12 hours to get eight hours of sleep, then that’s what you should do. Babies do sleep a lot when newborns, so take advantage of that and take lots of naps. That means not entertaining a lot of family and friends during the first few weeks.
9. Seek postpartum help: Ask your friends to drop off meals at your house, welcome family members who will do laundry and cook, or hire a postpartum doula to help with baby care and do some light cooking and cleaning.
10. Stay positive: Breast-feeding can be challenging, and the postpartum period is like no other time in your life. Reach out to people who support your choices and ask for help.
Doria Keesling is an advanced practice registered nurse and a certified nurse midwife at St. Patrick Hospital and Health Sciences Center.
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