The birth of a baby is one of the most important and crucial moments in a woman's life. Even at the stage of planning a pregnancy, a million questions are spinning in my head. The most important is "Can I breastfeed my baby?"
The first and most important condition for successful breastfeeding is the mother's desire to feed her baby. Believe me, if a mother has a desire, then this is 75% of the success factor.
The second and also important condition is communication with people who have a successful experience of breastfeeding. This will give us a positive attitude much more likely than if we listen to endless stories about milk disappearing in a month, two, three.
The third condition is early attachment of your baby to the chest. It will be ideal if, immediately after giving birth, the baby is applied in the delivery room so that he receives priceless drops of colostrum. But in the realities of modern maternity hospitals, this is quite difficult to implement. Doctors do not have enough time, sometimes women in labor go through a "conveyor belt". Therefore, the mother's task is to attach the baby to the breast at the earliest opportunity. As soon as your treasure is with you, give it a breast. From the very first feeding, make sure that the crumbs are properly gripped, this will protect you from damage to the breast and make breastfeeding painless. Also, after feeding, it is better to apply an emollient cream, for example, Bepanten, to the breast.
The fourth condition is not to panic. Breast milk comes only 3-7 days after the birth of the baby. The one who asks - "What to feed the baby with?" Will be fair. Nature came up with everything for us. Agree, it would be strange if a cat gave birth to kittens and they were starving at her, waiting for milk for 7 days. For the first 3-7 days, the child eats the most valuable thing that nature has created - colostrum. It is a sticky liquid that is produced in a very small volume by the mammary gland and is quite nutritious compared to breast milk. Also, due to the minimum amount of liquid in the composition, colostrum does not overload the baby's kidneys and has a laxative effect. The contained immunoglobulins and antitoxins in this liquid will saturate the child and support his immunity. Colostrum is a nutritious diet that will be enough for a baby in the first days after childbirth. You should also not panic over the child's weight loss. A baby's weight loss is physiological within 10% of birth weight.
The fifth condition is frequent attachment. The more often you apply the baby, the easier it is to establish breastfeeding. Here the law of demand operates, which gives rise to supply. Also, at the moment when the baby is at the breast, the uterus contracts faster - this promises an early recovery after the birth of the baby. At each feeding, if more than 2 hours have passed, change breasts.
The sixth condition is not to pump. Our moms love to give advice on how to breastfeed. And how joyful it is to hear about strained milk cans. Expressing is necessary only in one case, if milk stagnation or breast engorgement has occurred. It should only be squeezed until the condition alleviates, and not to the last drop. If you express milk on the advice of the older generation, you risk spending all your free time pumping. The law of demand also works here.
The main thing to remember is that breastfeeding is a natural process and 99% of women can breastfeed.
