Mother's milk is ideal food for newborns, but breastfeeding is contraindicated in some cases. If breastfeeding cannot be replaced with a bottle containing expressed milk, the infant must be given artificial formula.
Absolute contraindications for breastfeeding
There are absolute contraindications to breastfeeding and relative ones. Mothers who are carriers of HIV infection, as well as those who suffer from an open form of tuberculosis, should not feed their baby with their own milk under any circumstances.
There are also absolute contraindications on the part of the child. Breasts should not be offered to babies with cerebrovascular accidents, as this can lead to intracranial hemorrhage. Contraindications also include congenital metabolic disorders and severe respiratory respiratory disorders. In all these cases, mothers can only feed their babies with expressed milk.
An obstacle to successful breastfeeding is the deep prematurity of babies. As a rule, at the time of birth, they have no swallowing and sucking reflexes.
An absolute contraindication to breastfeeding a baby is hemolytic disease of the newborn due to the antigenic incompatibility of erythrocytes according to the Rh factor or according to the ABO system. In this case, it is necessary to feed the baby with milk from other women or immediately transfer it to an artificial mixture. Antibodies are destroyed during pasteurization, so some specialists still allow feeding a child with pasteurized breast milk.
Relative contraindications for breastfeeding
A relative contraindication to breastfeeding on the part of the mother is the presence of her bad habits. The difficult condition of the mother after childbirth can also serve as an obstacle to successful breastfeeding. In this case, the question of the appropriateness of breastfeeding should be decided by the attending physician.
If a woman is taking medications, she also needs to consult a doctor. Some of the medicines are incompatible with breastfeeding. If it is extremely necessary to take them at the moment, then breastfeeding will most likely have to be abandoned. In some cases, it is allowed to attach the baby to the breast a few hours after taking any drug.
Relative contraindications to breastfeeding on the part of the mother are her diseases such as measles, rubella, herpes, hepatitis. Experts assure that if such infections are found in a woman's body, feeding can still be continued, but at the same time, you will have to carefully monitor hygiene.
