Can I breastfeed?

Breastfeeding is the best gift to your baby that only you can provide. Providing breast milk has many benefits to both the infant and mother, both for short term and the long term health.

Importance of breastfeeding for mothers:

• It helps mother bond with her baby in a very special and unique way
• It reduces the risk of breast and ovarian cancer
• It helps the mother to recover from pregnancy and birth and go back to pre-pregnancy state: the uterus will shrink to normal size
• It helps mothers to lose weight by using about 500 extra calories in a day
• It makes mother happier and reduces postpartum depression
• It is always ready, clean and at the right temperature
• It saves time and money

Importance of breastfeeding for babies:

• It is the ideal food with the right nutrients and vitamins in
  
• It reduces the risk of infections such as diarrhoea, chest infection and ear infection
  
• It helps baby to have better brain development
  
• It reduces the risk of allergy, eczema, obesity, and diabetes in later life
  
• It reduces the risk of SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) by 50%

In pregnancy, you don’t need to prepare your body for breastfeeding, although it can be helpful to prepare yourself in other ways. In particular, you might find it helpful to:

• Communicate with your baby by talking to your baby, rubbing your belly, sing and play music. This reduces the stress level in you and your baby’s body and helps your baby’s brain to develop better
  
• Read about breastfeeding and attend antenatal baby feeding classes during your pregnancy so you will know what to do once your baby is born
  
• Before you give birth, tell your health care provider about any previous breast surgery or injury. If your nipples appear flat or inverted, ask if it will affect how your baby latches on. Remember, no preparation for breast is needed during pregnancy
  
• Talk to friends who have breast fed, or attend a breastfeeding mothers support group so you can meet other experienced breastfeeding mothers and listen to their experiences
• Contact and talk to the hospital lactation consultant or trained midwives who can give you individual professional advice
  

When you choose how to feed your baby, communicate your goals with the people around you like your partner, your doctor, midwife or nurse. They will be able to support you better.

As your baby grows in the womb, you may notice your breasts get a little bigger, sensitive or darkened around the nipples.

This means your breasts are preparing for the role of making milk for your baby. From about 20 weeks of pregnancy, your breasts will produce colostrum which is the perfect milk that your baby needs in the first few days after birth. You may or may not see drops of this milk during pregnancy. Once you deliver, the pregnancy hormones change and breastfeeding

Colostrum is made for the size of your baby’s stomach which is about the size of a marble. On day three to five, your milk increases, becomes juicier and flows better. Your milk changes to a bluish-white colour and your baby’s stomach size grows to the size of a ping pong ball. By day 10, you baby’s stomach size grows to the size of an egg and your body makes plenty of white coloured milk for your baby’s growing needs. Remember, the amount of your milk matches with the actual size of your baby’s stomach.

When should I start breastfeeding?

You should nurse your baby soon after birth, maximum within the first hour, because the sucking instinct is very strong at this time.

Holding your baby skin-to-skin with you immediately after birth for a minimum of one hour calms you and your baby, providing an easier transition to the new environment. This will help your baby to be warm, breathe better, and become alert and start crawling towards your breast. Once your baby is ready, we will help you to initiate breastfeeding. Holding your baby skin-to-skin and initiating breastfeeding within one hour after birth can be done after a caesarean birth as well as a vaginal birth.

Continue skin-to skin contact with your baby as much as possible over the next several days. Your baby will be calm, sleep better, breastfeed better and enjoy your touch. This reminds your body to produce more milk. The father can also hold the baby skin-to-skin.
If you are not able to have skin-to-skin contact or breastfeed straight after the birth, you can do it later. The father or other family member can give skin-to-skin contact which helps keep the baby warm and comforted while waiting for the mother. If your baby struggles to latch or you have sore nipples, ask for help. Some babies don’t show the signs of readiness to breastfeed straightaway or can be very sleepy, for example if they are affected by pain relief drugs used during labour, such as pethidine. Continue holding your baby skin-to-skin and express some of your milk and give it to your baby with a small spoon.

Keeping your baby with you continuously in the same room all through the day and night has many benefits for you and your baby. It helps you to:

• Continue skin-to-skin contact to keep your baby calm, warm and safe
• Get to know your baby better and recognise your baby’s feeding cues
• Breastfeed easier and on time
• Make more milk and establish breastfeeding successfully
• Bond with your baby and create a nurturing environment through responding tenderly and lovingly
• Expose your baby to fewer infections

If separation is indicated due to individual clinical need, you can hold your baby as soon as it is possible. Once you go home with your baby, continue the rooming-in. The safest place for your baby is to be in the same room with you on a separate bed close by for the first year.

The time to feed a baby is when the baby shows early hunger signs. Your baby will make little signals, known as feeding cues, such as sucking fists, licking lips or wriggling round and opening the mouth searching for your breast. Looking out for and responding to these cues is important because the sooner you can respond to them, the less likely your baby is to cry. Crying is stressful for a baby and a baby feeds best when calm. Breastfeed your baby at early cues before starts crying. Scheduled feeding can disturb your breastfeeding and create problems. Using a pacifier can interfere with breastfeeding your baby as you may miss his feeding cues. Remember to change your baby’s nappy and burp him before feeding.

Early and often! Your baby has a small stomach size, so it is normal that he is breastfeeding more often. Infants are expected to feed eight to 12 times in 24 hours. Hold your baby more often and he will be ready and alert for feeding. Breastfeed your baby whenever he is hungry, as often as he wants, and as long as he wants until satisfied. Then, your body makes plenty of milk for your baby. Once he is done, he will let the breast go and go to sleep.
Breastfed babies don’t eat on a schedule. It is okay if your baby eats every one to two hours. This stimulates your breasts to produce plenty of milk. Since human milk is more easily digested than formula, breastfed babies can eat more frequently than bottle-fed babies do. Babies nurse less frequently as they get older and start solid foods at six months of age.

After delivery, it is normal for a baby to lose a little weight. Your baby will regain his or her birth weight by about 10 days to two weeks of age when he is better at breastfeeding and have a larger stomach to hold more. Always watch your baby rather than the clock for signs of hunger.

Babies may want to breastfeed for reasons other than hunger. It’s okay for you to offer these “comfort feedings” as another way of meeting your baby’s needs. Let babies feed whenever they want and also whenever your breasts are getting full. Mothers can take weeks to fully understand what their baby wants: give yourself a chance to enjoy learning.

Every baby is different so feeds will vary in length. It’s best to be guided by your baby’s behaviour. Your baby will normally let you know when she has had enough milk by taking himself off the breast. Feeds can vary a lot; sometimes your baby might only need a quick feed and sometimes a much longer one. Feedings may take about 15-20 minutes or longer and some can take up to an hour. There is no set time, your baby will let you know when he or she is finished by coming off your breast on his own and go to sleep. At this time, don’t stimulate your baby, let him sleep.

As your baby feeds from your breast, the milk changes from fore milk (watery, sugary) and becomes creamier, filling hind milk (higher in fat). Offer only one breast at each feed. Your baby might take only one side at a time to become satisfied. If baby is still hungry, let your baby finish feeding on one breast before switching to the second breast. This helps your baby gain weight and stay fuller for longer time.