DO THE YOU CAN!

Worried you won’t get the knack of breastfeeding? We have all you need to know to give yourself the best chance of nursing success

When was the last time you watched a mother whip out her nipple and ease it into the mouth of her infant? Instead, you probably averted your eyes out of politeness or cringe factor. And that’s exactly the source of problems behind many of the breastfeeding issues we experience – it’s become invisible, says lactation consultant Leana Habeck.

“We are no longer raised with women breastfeeding around us, so we don’t know what it looks like and have to be taught to do it as a result.” While they are all a part of modern life, medical birthing interventions, pain relief, hospitalisation and supplementation can also have unintended consequences that interfere with breastfeeding. These include a delay in getting breastfeeding established, babies developing a disorganised suck, having a diminished early suckling response or milk taking longer to come in, says Leana. Knowing what’s not normal, and then getting the right help as early as possible, will give you a greater chance of successfully breastfeeding your baby.

WHY BREAST REALLY IS BEST

Opting to breastfeed, or not, is an intensely personal choice, but doing it does have benefits for both you and your baby. “Breastfeeding and human milk is not just a food, but rather a complex infant support system,” says Leana.

There’s new research almost daily about how breastfeeding can support a healthy childhood. It improves a baby’s immune system, reducing his risk of allergies and childhood leukaemia. It reduces a baby’s risk of diarrhoea, ear infections, sudden infant death syndrome, diabetes, pneumonia, and asthma. Breastfed babies are also less likely to become obese adults.

Then there’s you to consider. If you clock up six months of breastfeeding, you decrease your risk of breast and ovarian cancer, high blood pressure, diabetes, high cholesterol and cardiovascular disease. Plus it’s healthy on your wallet. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) says that breastfeeding saves families an average of R9 600 a year on formula costs. While formula will see to your child’s nutritional needs, it cannot compete with the immune support an infant gets from breastmilk – whether this is donated, expressed or sucked from source.

Even if you’ve gotten your head around the idea of breastfeeding and be committed to making it succeed, but you are likely to still have tons of questions. Clueing yourself up on what breastfeeding involves could help you get it right.

WHAT’S THE GOLDEN HOUR?

The first 60 minutes (or thereabouts – nothing with a newborn is an exact science!) helps set you up for a successful start to breastfeeding if there is skin to skin contact between you and your baby. Skin to skin contact immediately after birth takes advantage of that

first hour of alertness. It also helps to keep the baby warm, helps to stabilise the baby’s breathing and heart rate, and colonises the baby with mom’s good bacteria.

It also helps babies learn to suckle more effectively. In this “golden hour” a newborn goes through instinctive stages. About half an hour after birth he may begin to attempt to reach the breast and nipple. For the next 15 minutes he will become acquainted with you by licking the nipple and touching the breast – at this point his tongue is flat and high in the roof of the mouth. Finally, after about 20 more minutes the tongue drops as your baby opens his mouth and takes the nipple in. Let your baby take his time with this. “When babies are rushed to the breast before all their senses are awakened, and before their tongues are familiar enough with the nipple, latching is often unsuccessful,” says Dr Raylene Phillips in her study for the journal Newborn and

There’s also more going on between you and your baby during this time than meets the eye – the contact between you also helps to boost the release of oxytocin (known as the “love hormone”), which promotes bonding.

YOUR BABY’S FIRST “IMMUNISATION” IS COLOSTRUM

You may have noticed a creamy discharge from your nipples in the last few weeks of your pregnancy. This is colostrum, and is the first form of nutrition your breasts will produce to nourish your baby. “Colostrum is a thick, creamy, golden substance that you will see from birth up to day three, but it’s actually present in the milk for up to three weeks afterwards,” says Leana.

Your newborn baby will only suck small amounts of colostrum in this period – but that’s all he needs, as it is highly concentrated. This gives him time to learn how to