We at UK Birth Centres want you to know we are experts in breast feeding support and are committed to helping you succeed in breastfeeding your baby.
There are many on line communities dedicated to breastfeeding and lots of stories about women struggling to succeed! One of the big worries it seems is not producing enough milk. This can be a real worry for all concerned and even lead to the Mum switching to formula feeding and ceasing to breastfeed altogether. Here I have put together several techniques that have successfully helped to boost breast milk when adopted by previous clients, so they may be worth considering if you are in this position.
Baby Moon:
A “baby moon” is describing the time you spend as a new mother mostly skin-to-skin with your baby, so why not help get breastfeeding off to a great start ! It helps bonding, getting to know each other, increasing your milk supply and can help a baby learn to latch on. Get someone else to help out with cooking, housework, etc and just do enjoyable and relaxing things, like lying around in bed, sleeping, having a bath together or having a walk with little one in the sling or carrier. Some mothers find that they remember this as a very special time in their lives, even years later, although it’s only a few days.
Nursing holiday:
There’s a story somewhere about a doctor who wrote the mother a prescription that said ‘take your baby to bed and feed it’ and suggested she spend about 48 hours making that more or less her only occupation, as well as enjoying herself bonding and eating (food prepared by someone else). Some babies will feed nearly constantly for these few days. Remember a baby’s stomach is small and breast milk is usually fully digested in 1-2 hours so you need to keep feeding very frequently to maximise weight gain.
Breast Compression:
Combined with very frequent feedings, this technique as described by Dr Jack Newman can increase your milk supply very effectively. This technique is excellent for a sleepy baby as it helps the baby to get rewarded well for sucking and so wakes up! It is in fact well worth trying as Dr Newman says it’s great for those babies with an ineffective latch so an all-round ideal trick to acquire!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wj9tLgYn-bA
Frequent Feeds:
Yes, if your baby isn’t gaining weight when breastfeeding, then increase the feeds. Try a MINIMUM of 8-12 in 24 hours for a normal newborn. Where weight gain is the goal, feed your gorgeous newborn much more often. Breast milk is the Bespoke Super food prepared by your body for your baby, so let’s make the most of it. Remember that breast milk is digested within 1 to 2 hours and therefore it is natural that a breastfed baby feels ready for more. It is the indigestible constituents that are found in artificial milk that stay for longer in the stomach, that means that bottle fed babies sometimes go longer between feeds.
‘Biological nurturing’:
These techniques are really easy relaxing things to do with your baby. They can help to awaken your baby’s latching on instincts, especially if used repeatedly. Babies often like to sleep like this and you can spend as long as you like together bonding and hanging out. It will also help you increase your milk supply.
http://www.biologicalnurturing.com/video/bn3clip.html
Baby Body language:
Be on the look-out for very early feeding cues such as those mentioned in the “Laid Back Breast feeding video” on the Biological nurturing web site. It is so much better to respond to your baby by picking up the early signs that he/she is getting ready to feed, as it will help you to make a better effort at latching your baby on.
To celebrate National Breast feeding Week look out for the second blog here on UK Birth Centres entitled “Dad can help too!”
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