A guest post by Gina Ciagne
As you prepare for your exciting and much-awaited arrival, you may be discussing and considering various options for labor and delivery. It’s important to understand how your choices during labor and delivery can affect early breastfeeding success.
Reconsider Using Medication During Birth
While medicated labors (including epidural and/or IV fluids) are not a problem for all women and babies, you can improve your odds for a successful start at breastfeeding if you limit or avoid these interventions during labor. The medication provided to moms for pain relief during labor, such as an epidural, can cause newborn babies to be sleepier than those born to moms who get little or no pain relief. This sleepiness can cause your baby to delay nursing for a few hours after delivery rather than immediately after. If possible, it’s important to nurse your baby right after birth. In addition, IV fluids during labor can cause or increase breast engorgement, which can also hinder early breastfeeding. Unless there are other medical challenges occurring, it’s best to use IV fluids in a limited capacity or not at all in order to avoid engorgement and the complications that can follow.
Breastfeed As Soon After Birth As Possible
Regardless of your birthing method, if you’re planning to breastfeed it’s critical that you offer your baby your breast as soon after delivery as possible. Babies who are breastfed within the first hour after birth usually have greater success at breastfeeding than those who are not put to the breast right away. However, if you cannot breastfeed immediately after delivery, don’t worry or give up on breastfeeding—it doesn’t necessarily mean that you won’t be able to successfully breastfeed. It just may be more difficult for you and your baby to get started. If possible, talk with your doctor and see if you can slightly delay some of the medical procedures that some facilities do following the birth so you and your baby can begin breastfeeding, bonding, and sharing your special chemistry skin-to-skin. Skin-to-skin is so important, as it can regulate body temperature and help release oxytocin, which is often called the “love hormone.” It can also calm a baby who has just been through the birth process and helps facilitate the establishment of breastfeeding.
Room In
In order for you and your baby to get used to each other, it may be a good idea to have your newborn in the room with you. Sometimes called “rooming in,” this is a good time to start listening for your baby’s sounds and hunger cues. There may be reasons why your baby is taken to the nursery at the hospital, but you can ask for your baby to be with you the majority of the time..
Specify No Formula Supplementation
You can also request that no formula supplementation takes place. If anything other than breastfeeding is deemed medically necessary, inquire as to whether you can have the option to use expressed breast milk. You can also request that doctors and nurses feed your baby via dropper or cup so nipple confusion or preference does not occur or interfere with success of your baby returning to the breast to feed naturally.
Ask For Help From A Lactation Consultant
Remember that this is your baby and you are his or her biggest advocate. Not everyone may support you breastfeeding—including some hospital staff—but they need to respect your wishes. If you’re nervous about breastfeeding or are unsure of how to start, it’s a good idea to seek out advice and training from a lactation consultant before you deliver. Many lactation experts work within the hospitals and throughout communities around New York. If you need help after delivery, ask your nurse to request that a lactation consultant visit you as soon as possible. If one isn’t immediately available, ask the nurse to provide advice—he or she may have some tips on how to get started. If you do great during your hospital stay but have challenges once at home, find a local lactation consultant who can make a home visit. Most importantly, don’t give up and don’t feel like you have to figure it out on your own. See the New York Lactation Consultant Association for a list of local certified providers.
Be Patient For Mature Milk To Come In
Don’t worry if you start breastfeeding and not much milk comes out in the first few days—that’s normal! It should, on average, take about three days for your mature milk to come in. In the meantime, keep nursing—your baby is getting colostrum, a concentrated form of your milk that is packed with antibodies. It’s also important to know that feeding from the breast is the best way to remove milk. Breastfeeding will give your body an idea of how much milk it needs to produce and helps you and your baby learn how to breastfeed together. Giving supplemental formula feedings or even water to your baby in the beginning may undermine your confidence, reduce your baby’s need to suckle at your breast, and affect your milk supply. Have your doctor put on your chart that your baby is exclusively breastfed so the nurses know your wishes upfront. If a nurse asks if you want to supplement because you seem tired or your baby seems unhappy, be pleasant but firm in stating that your baby is to have only the breast or, if necessary, your pumped milk.
Learn Together—Snuggle, Cuddle, and Nurse
You and your baby have been through an incredible experience and it’s important that you snuggle, cuddle, and nurse as often as you can so you both continue the bonding that started when she was in your belly. Breastfeeding is natural, but it doesn’t always come naturally. Therefore, learning together is the best way to ensure that your journey gets off to the right start!
Gina Ciagne is a Certified Lactation Counselor and La Leche League International-trained breastfeeding peer counselor. She is the Senior Director of Healthcare Relations for Lansinoh.
