Breastfeeding Basics
There's lots of myths and misunderstandings out there about breastfeeding. It's become somewhat of a lost art that many of us must learn from scratch, alone when we birth our first baby. Here are some of the main areas of confusion surrounding breastfeeding...and the basic facts.#1: Breastfeeding works on supply and demand. The more frequently the baby suckles, the more milk you make. A baby who is wanting to feed a lot is not starving, he's just putting in his order for breakfast tomorrow.
#2: The formula feeding baby should not be used as the measure of normal for a breastfeeding baby. There are differences in weight gain and feeding patterns between formula and breastfed infants, but breastfeeding is the “biologicial norm” for human babies. For growth charts that reflect the growth curve of a breastfed baby, see the World Health Organisation site here
#3: Frequent feeds are normal for a newborn. Breastfeeding newborns can feed every 1-3 hours - this is absolutely normal. As he gets older, he will start to go longer between feeds.
#4: A baby who is wetting and soiling 8-10 nappies a day, gaining weight and is generally happy and alert is getting enough milk. If it isn’t going in, it wouldn’t be coming out either.
#5: Breastfeeds do not need to be timed. Some babies are fast efficient feeders and will only feed for 10 minutes. Others like to linger and may take an hour. Either is normal as long as your baby is showing the signs above that he is getting enough. Allow your baby to feed for as long as it wants to. Marathon feeds will settle with time.
#6: Baby does not have to take both breasts at every feed. Offer the second one, if he doesn’t want it – he probably isn’t hungry anymore. So start with that one at the next feed. Feeding this way has the added benefit of ensuring baby gets to the hindmilk - the richer milk which comes later in the feed.
#7: Breastfed babies will usually have multiple soiled nappies in a day which are soft and yellow in colour and “seedy”, almost like mustard. This is not diarrhoea and is normal for the breastfed newborn.
#8: Newborns often go through “growth spurts” at around one week, three weeks, and six weeks when they may feed almost constantly for a day or two and be quite unsettled. This does not mean you are losing your milk or that your baby isn’t getting enough to eat. The baby is just telling your body it needs to “up production”, so that you will have enough milk to meet his needs as he grows (see #1!).
#9: No matter how poor your diet is postpartum, your milk is still nutritionally sound and the best food for your baby. Just as in pregnancy, your body will take what it needs for your milk, and leave the rest for you.
#10: Seek breastfeeding advice from those who are qualified in breastfeeding. It may surprise you to learn that many GP's and Child Health Nurses have no specialised training in breastfeeding and often give outdated and incorrect advice. If you're having a problem that is making it difficult to continue breastfeeding, seek advice from the Australian Breastfeeding Association, or a certified lactation consultant.
Labels: breastfeeding
Prevent Caesarean Surgery
With an ever increasing caesarean rate this 5 minute video is worth a look. It shows mums who have had both vaginal births and caesareans talking about their experiences, as well describing practical ways to minimise your odds of a caesarean. Good little resource list at the end as well.
Caesarean surgery is life saving for a small proportion of women and babies. But a good proportion of women having caesareans every year don't need them, or might have avoided them if they'd known about the factors that increase their risk. Unfortunately too many of us aren't aware of the relationship between inductions, epidurals, monitoring and a host of other interventions - and caesarean. Let's get the word out and reclaim our right to normal birth.
Labels: Caesarean section, video
Tabloids, Trash and Trusting Birth (Memo to Tara Brown)
Sixty Minutes, that once reputable current affairs show, and reporter Tara Brown sunk to new lows on Sunday night with the airing of their story “Mothers Choice”. The report was supposed to examine the choices made by different women when it came to birthing their babies – two women who had opted for elective caesareans, one who was planning to freebirth (First note to you Tara – freebirth and homebirth are NOT the same thing, and the terms are not interchangeable), and another woman who had birthed both ways.Honestly, I don’t think they could have crammed more sensationalist stereotypes into one story if they tried. The elective caesarean mothers were portrayed as professional, educated high earners – so educated that they cited reasons such as floppy vaginas, diminished sex lives, and no benefit to the baby from “all that agony” as their reasons for electing a caesarean birth. Informed choice anyone? The myths they espoused about vaginal birth were not corrected, in fact some of them were even backed up by a Sydney obstetrician who sprouted the old furfy that vaginal birth damages the pelvic floor - against all available evidence which tells us it is pregnancy, not vaginal birth, that contributes to a weakened pelvic floor.
The freebirthing mother was from a country town in Queensland. A salt of the earth type, who simply wanted to birth her baby without interference. Trusting her body, trusting birth. The innuendo throughout the story was palpable – she was selfish, irresponsible…reckless even for not birthing in a hospital. It was stated throughout the story that she was having a homebirth even though she was actually freebirthing (birthing without a midwife, doctor or experienced attendant present). Tara’s insistence on referring to a freebirth as a homebirth throughout the piece will only serve to fan the flames of those who would see homebirths with a registered midwife stomped out completely in this country. Yep, thanks to you Tara, there are undoubtedly people out there who think that all homebirths take place without an attendant - just like the one in your story. And while we’re on the subject of attendants and midwives, where the heck were they? How can you do a story on birth choices, and interview women, private obstetricians...and not a single midwife?
It was quite depressing really, to see what had the potential to be an informed and balanced report on an issue which is desperate for some coverage, turned into nothing more than sensationalist fluff. Good job Tara. Perhaps you might like to have another crack at this one after you have your baby in October.
You can view the story or transcript here. And if you’re as disgusted by this story as I was, maybe you could email Sixty Minutes and let them know, just while you're there.
Labels: media
La Teta... to give the breast is to give life...
I just came across this wonderful video on YouTube. I love it because it's such a warm and joyful portrayal of how beautiful and fulfilling the breastfeeding relationship can be for both mother and child.
It's a public service announcement made by the Puerto Rican government.
Now if only OUR government would start spending some of the health budget on such wonderful promotion of breastfeeding! What I really love about this clip is that is shows older babies and toddlers feeding, it doesn't focus on newborns as so much breastfeeding information seems to here in Australia. Breastfeeding a toddler is healthy and normal and those of us who do it (and I am one!) can be "out and proud" and visible so that it becomes a normal thing for people to see...as it obviously is in Puerto Rico.
The World Health Organisation recommends exclusive breastfeeding until six months, and continuing breastfeeding for a minimum of two years.
Labels: breastfeeding
