Breastfeeding Education
Breastfeeding education and encouragement should begin in your first trimester. Find out if your hospital offers a free breastfeeding class, as many do. By taking a prenatal breastfeeding class and reading about breastfeeding during your pregnancy, you will be encouraged and confident in your nursing journey!
Breastfeeding Education Classes Should Cover:
Benefits of breastfeeding
This includes the health benefits for mother and baby. Exclusively breastfeeding for the first six months is important, and you should continue breastfeeding as you add the family foods one at a time at six months of age.
Basic breastfeeding management
Latch, position, and hold should be included, as well as the importance of skin-to-skin contact for mother and infant.
“Rooming in” with your baby
This means keeping baby in the room with you. Mom should nurse in the first hour of life then continue doing so frequently, exclusively nursing on your baby’s cues, not by the clock. No one is going to know your baby like you, so keep baby close to learn your baby’s cues to feed. Family support, a mother’s return to work, and dietary concerns should also be reviewed during your class.
The Benefits of Breastfeeding:
For baby, breast milk is easily digested and provides nutrition that is perfectly matched to your baby’s needs. Colostrum is the first breast milk that is packed with antibodies that protect baby immediately following birth. For mom, breastfeeding is convenient, economical, gets you back in shape, contributes to a loving bond with baby, and it is the most beautiful act you will ever take!
Children who are NOT exclusively breastfed for 6 months have a greater chance of the following health problems:
- About 60% more likely to suffer from ear infections
- About 40% more likely to get type 1 or 2 Diabetes
- About 25% more likely to be overweight or obese
- About 30% more likely to suffer from leukemia
- About 25% more likely to be hospitalized for respiratory diseases like pneumonia or asthma
- About 200% more likely to suffer with diarrhea
- Twice as likely to die of SIDS
It is very rare for a mom to not have enough milk for her baby. The medical instances when it is necessary to supplement an infant with anything other than mother’s own milk are also rare. Get off to a good start by holding baby skin-to-skin with you in the delivery room, nurse in the first hour, room in, and feed on demand. You’ll find that by day four or five you feel very full with milk and everything is going well.
Breastfeeding Tips:
Exclusively nursing means only breastfeeding. Bottles and pacifiers can mix up breastfeeding efforts in the first weeks. The bottles that come free-of-cost from formula companies in the hospital provide baby with a fast flow. Infants may prefer this easy option, but if it causes them to resist going back to the breast, they will lose all the health benefits of breastfeeding. The more an infant has a pacifier in his mouth, the more likely you are to miss the cues to feed, and the less your body knows to make milk.
Infant cues to feed include lip smacking and sucking on their own hand. This is their language and how they will tell you they are hungry! We recommend that you hold baby tummy-to-tummy with you and with your baby’s nose to the nipple. Have a breastfeeding specialist help you in the hospital so you will have confidence at home. You’ll know you are doing well on day five of baby’s life when you have been exclusively nursing and baby is wetting diapers at least five times in 24 hours and the stools turn to a yellow mustard seed color. Babies lose some weight at first, so don’t worry; keep nursing as often as baby cues to feed.
Dietary concerns are few; moms can eat what they want. Your milk changes in taste with all the healthy foods you eat. You should listen to your body, eating when you’re hungry and drinking when you’re thirsty. It is the frequency with which you feed baby that makes lots of milk.
Breastfeeding is not always easy at first, but keep going and it will be the simplest, most wonderful thing you do after a few weeks. If you are having any difficulty, know your resources and call for help.
Remember that breastfeeding is good for the environment, results in fewer health care dollars spent on illness, and enables moms to miss less time from work because their babies are healthier. Share all of this information with your family and loved ones so they can support you as they learn these incredible benefits.