Balancing Breastfeeding/Expressing with Work (Pt. 2)

Today's entry was actually intended as a comment for Friday's entry, but since it's so comprehensive and it's by a medical professional mother who's been-there-done-it, I decided to make it the 2nd part of this extensive topic:

laifchan:

"Yup, breastfeeding definitely trumps formula hands-down.

Having said that, mums who choose not to breastfeed exclusively or partially for whatever reason don’t have to be weighed down by guilt.

I think that balancing the benefits of breastfeeding with the general well-being of the mother is an important aspect. After all, your precious one’s healthy development and attachment is a life-long process that is not confined to just breastfeeding.

I wish that people around me had been more candid about the challenges of breastfeeding and instead of saying ‘aiya, if I told u all these than u wouldn’t breastfeed-mah!’

So here’s what I learned from my past 6 mths of exclusive breastfeeding:

1. Be prepared, especially if you have only 2 months of maternity leave (we’ll talk about advocating breast-feeding friendliness at work later)

• books are a good source of information. The one I used was pretty good and came with illustrations and an easy to use index: What To Expect The 1st Year by Heidi Murkoff (http://books.simonandschuster.co.uk/What-To-Expect-The-1st-Year-rev-Edition/Heidi-Murkoff/WHAT-TO-EXPECT/9780743231886)
• videos on step-by step ways to latch-on your baby and the various positions (you can still breastfeed in the football position after a C-section) are available on youtube, just make sure they are done by proper lactation experts: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qjs_uQ8PCHw
• talk to friends and relatives who have experienced breastfeeding – my family was a great source of support and encouragement. Also, you’d realize that your decision to breastfeed will involve lifestyle changes to your family, esp hubby J
• professional help is available in the form of lactation experts (nurse, paediatrician, obstetrician) – check with your obstetrician on who is available for consultation at your clinic/hospital.
• start to stock-up on expressed milk before going back to work to ensure continuous supply. I was semi-freaking out when I couldn’t pump fast enough to stock-up as my little one was on the breast almost hourly for the first 2 months-more on how it worked-out later.

2. Be flexible

• planning ahead is great but don’t beat yourself up too much if your carefully constructed plans don’t happen because being too stressed-out drastically reduces milk supply and takes the joy out of breastfeeding!

3. Prevention is better than cure

• to reduce the risk of cracked nipples and mastitis, protect your nipples by ensuring that your baby latches on and off properly (available in afore-mentioned books and videos) and reduce friction on nipples. I found Bepanthen cream very useful when applied after each feed, its activated vit B so no need to wipe-off, pretty safe if ingested by baby-its also great for preventing nappy rash. A bit of expressed milk smeared on the nipples and then air-dried also helps.
• mastitis is not the end of the world- Early medical treatment is effective to prevent complications and you will still be able to continue breastfeeding.

4. Don’t give-up-life does get better

• every baby and mummy is unique, so its difficult to have a formula on how often to feed the baby and for how long. The basic principle is feed on demand and a sign that he/she is fed enough is when they pass adequate amounts of stools and urine in between feeds.  Crying is a late sign of hunger, the baby usually will start smacking the lips or rooting for the nipple first.
• a common frustration is when there doesn’t seem to be enough milk-that’s why its important to keep feeding on demand as the more the baby sucks, the more your milk production is stimulated. Try to start as soon as possible after delivery. The nurse’s response after I asked for my baby to start breastfeeding straight-away: ‘Aiya, wait-lah, have 2 clean-you up first and all the mess here!’ This despite a big fat poster in the labour room that screamed: Thousands of babies lives saved by breastfeeding within the 1^st hour!
• colostrum in the first few days is sufficient for a healthy baby with a normal weight even though the amount is small-you may hardly feel the colostrum coming out.
• The actual milk comes on day 3-5 onwards and is rather painful due to engorgement-somehow cabbage worked best for me but just don’t overdo it coz it reduces the milk-flow somewhat.
• yes, its exhausting to breastfeed round the clock so support is crucial ie hubby helping with night-time feeding and diaper-changing. Some mums find it less exhausting to start expressing early so that someone else can take turns feeding expressed milk in a bottle-tricky to say how early as they may get used to the bottle and refuse the breast! For me, it was practical to start getting my son used to the bottle when I was about to start work. Also, grab the chance to catch 40 winks when the baby is asleep.
• frequent nite-feeds are tiring coz breast-milk is easily digested hence the tummy gets empty fast! take heart, as time goes by, they suck more efficiently and the hours between feeds gets longer and longer and when they start semi-solids, they will gradually learn to sleep through the night. Some mummies find it helpful to use the lying-down position to get some rest, just be careful to position the baby properly so he/she doesn’t get crushed/suffocated.
• some women like yours truly are more prone to blocked ducts (very painful-a quadrant of your breast becomes rock-solid and the baby can’t suck the milk out from that part) so try to ensure that the baby manages to suck from the whole breast evenly to prevent accumulation in 1 area of the breast-changing feeding positions and gentle massage helps (don’t overdo it as a break in your skin may set the route for infection and mastitis)

5. Some is better than none

• Don’t be too hard on yourself. If despite trying your best and you’re at your wits end trying to keep sane, supplementing with formula does not make you a bad mother. Your physical and emotional well-being is important to ensure that you can continue caring for your baby effectively. With perseverance, some mums still manage to exclusively breastfeed a bit later when they are in a better state of mind emotionally and physically.

Hopefully this is helpful-more on breastfeeding while working full-time later……."

 

The contents of this blog are for informational purposes only. The content is not designed to be a substitute for professional medical consultation.