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Breastfeeding
What is breastfeeding?
Breastfeeding is when a woman feeds her baby breast milk directly from her breast. It is also known as nursing. Making the decision to breastfeed your baby is a personal matter and one that is likely to draw opinions from family and friends. Medical experts, including the American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP) and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, recommend breastfeeding exclusively for six months without giving the baby formula, juice or water. After the introduction of other foods, it recommends continuing to breastfeed through the baby’s first year of life.
Signs that your baby is hungry:
The most common sign that your baby will show to alert lets you know that they are hungry is to cry. Other signs may include:
Licking their lips - Sticking out their tongue
- Moving their jaw, mouth, or head to look for your breast is called rooting.
- Putting their hand in their mouth
- Opening their mouth
- Fussiness
- Sucking on things
What are the benefits of breastfeeding your baby?
Breast milk provides ideal nutrition for infants as it has a nearly perfect mix of vitamins, fat and protein that the baby needs in order to grow properly. It is also easily digested than infant formula. Breast milk contains antibodies that assist the baby’s body immune system fight off bacteria and viruses, and it helps lower the baby’s risk of asthma or allergies. Babies who have breastfed exclusively for the first six months after birth, without the substitute of formula, have fewer ear infections, respiratory illnesses and periods of diarrhoea. Plus, they also have fewer trips to the doctor and hospitalisations. Breastfed babies are more likely to gain the right amount of weight as they grow.
Paediatric emergencies
Acute & critical paediatric care
Common infectious diseases
Gastroenterology
Allergic disorders
Growth & development
Preventative health measures
Neurodevelopment
Newborn & neonatal care
BreastfeedingBreastfeeding helps mothers burn extra calories, helping them lose pregnancy weight faster. It also helps the mother’s body release the hormone oxytocin, which helps the uterus return to its normal pre-pregnancy size and may also reduce uterine bleeding after birth. Dr Nsele helps guide mothers through different approaches to breastfeeding.
FAQ
The first few days after giving birth, your breasts may produce an ideal "first milk”, called colostrum. Colostrum is the thick, yellowish fluid that the breast produce. There's not enough of it; however, there is plenty for the baby’s nutritional needs. You will start producing transitional milk in a few days after giving birth. Mature milk is only produced after 10 – 15 days. As your baby needs more milk and nurses, your breasts respond by making more milk.
- Sore nipples
- Dry, cracked nipples
- Worries about producing enough milk
- Pumping and storing milk
- Inverted nipples
- Blocked ducts
- Breast infection
- Stress
- Premature babies not being able to breastfeed right away.
There are a few situations where breastfeeding could be harmful to the baby, such as:
- The mother is HIV positive, as this may result in the mother passing the HIV virus to the baby.
- The mother has active, untreated tuberculosis.
- The mother is receiving chemotherapy for cancer.
- The mother is using illegal drugs such as cocaine or marijuana.
- The mother is taking certain prescription medication such as some drugs for migraine headaches, Parkinson’s disease or arthritis.
