Breasts are for babies
Breastfeeding is every baby’s birthright. Any mother who denies her baby the right to suckle at her breast should decide not to have a baby in the first place. Having said this, one must admit that there are many young mothers who are troubled by many issues regarding breastfeeding.
First, the importance of breastfeeding: breast milk is the only complete nutrition for babies and infants. It is sterile, easily available, inexpensive food, which provides your baby protection against many infections- diarrhoeas,
respiratory infections and pneumonia. It also protects your baby from middle ear infections, which are very common in bottle-fed babies and responsible for hearing loss with consequent late speech development. Childhood obesity is less common in breastfed babies and they are protected against many cardiac risk factors, diabetes and asthma. The height, weight gain and cognitive development of the child is directly linked to the duration of breastfeeding. Not only that your child is less likely to be a smoker when he grows up. Wow! What a beautiful gift for your baby. You can’t certainly deny your child that.
As a mother, you too have many direct advantages of breastfeeding: you are likely to get back into size, shape and weight much faster and the uterus returns to normal size quicker. As long as you are exclusively breastfeeding and your periods have not returned, you are unlikely to conceive as long as the baby is less than 6 months of age (known as Lactational Amenorrhoea Method of contraception). If you have ever breastfed a baby you are likely to have a 14% lower risk of breast cancer compared to one who has never breastfed. Risk of ovarian and uterine cancers is also much lower and is directly related to longer durations of breastfeeding. But the subtlest benefit is the immense bonding that develops between the mother and child.
When should you begin breastfeeding your baby?
The answer is: as soon as possible, maybe within an hour of the delivery. This will decrease your own blood loss. This also helps to warm up the baby. Colostrum is the yellowish fluid produced by the breasts for a few days after birth. Don’t discard this. It contains high concentrations of carbohydrates, proteins and antibodies, which provide all the nutrition required by the baby without irritating the baby’s intestines like other fluids and also provides antibodies against many infections. Early feeding encourages the ‘let-down’ reflex by which milk secretion starts.
How often should you feed the baby?
The baby should be breastfed on demand. This could mean feeding every 2-3 hourly though the pattern can vary at different times of the day and night. A sleeping baby, not fed for 4 hours, should be woken up for the feed. A hungry baby usually turns towards the mother with an open mouth. Other signs are that the baby is more alert or chews and sucks on hands and fingers. The demand for feeding will increase at times of your baby’s growth spurt, which generally occurs at 3 weeks, 6 weeks, 3 months and 6 months of age.
How will you know that the baby is satisfied or that breast is empty?
If the baby stops suckling early during the breastfeeding session, tickle and wake the baby up. Generally, once the baby has latched on to the breast correctly, the baby will feed well. If the baby then turns away from the breast, stops swallowing and if the baby’s hands are no longer in fists, you can stop and burp the baby. Now offer the baby your other breast. If the baby is not hungry, the breast will be ignored. In the early days, each breast-feeding session lasts 20-45 minutes as both you and your baby learn the intricacies of correct feeding and interpretation of the signs your baby gives you. Never allow such sessions to last more than an hour. Always offer the baby alternate breast first so that each breast is exposed to the initial strong suckling efforts. This will help to keep them the same size, more or less.
Remember that no baby or mother knows intuitively the absolute correct way of breastfeeding, despite what one may think. Do take help from several books available on the subject. Read them along with your husband before the baby is born. Don’t deny the father of the baby the joy you get out of breastfeeding your child. Allow him to hold the baby and ‘walk’ while you wait for the baby to burp. Not only is this an excellent way to develop father-child bonding but this will also give you a chance to rest and catch up with your sleep, even as you get ready for the next breast-feeding session, which comes all too soon.