10 Tips From Baby Bonds on Prenatal Breastfeeding Education
When you’ve got a baby on the way, it relieves so much stress to have breastfeeding and general helpful information beforehand. When you know the exhaustion of having a newborn close by, feeling prepared eases your concerns.
Are you expecting?
Are you planning to breastfeed?
Have you heard breastfeeding is hard?
It can be, but it doesn’t have to be with support from a lactation consultant. Baby Bonds assist you to ensure breastfeeding goes as smoothly as possible by providing top-notch IBCLC care to the Boise community.
Sometimes breastfeeding goes smoothly with no problems. Other times you will need that extra support to reach your feeding goals. Melanie’s giving you 10 pieces of advice for preparing for your baby and their big arrival day!
Sometimes breastfeeding goes smoothly with no problems. If help is needed, early intervention is key to increasing your success. Please make an appointment with an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant.
Take a Prenatal Breastfeeding Class.
Breastfeeding classes are offered by private lactation consultants, birth centers, and hospitals. The cost is often very minimal and well worth your time and money. They teach breastfeeding positions, how to get a good latch, and problems to watch out for.
It’s really a win-win because you get some of your most burning questions answered by a professional to help you feel prepared and have the knowledge to know when to ask for more help.
Melanie created a prenatal breastfeeding course you can check out here!
Have an Assessment of Breast Tissue.
Getting a prenatal assessment by a midwife or IBCLC (International Board Certified Lactation Consultant) to see if there are any concerns of insufficient glandular tissue (IGT) relieves your biggest breastfeeding worries. Some signs to look for are wide spacing, scant breast tissue, tubular-shaped breasts, bulbous nipples, and asymmetrical breasts.
Moms with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS) are more prone to have IGT. No worries though because with a proper care plan, most can still be successful at breastfeeding their baby. When you’ve got the right support and resources, anything is possible!
Meet with an IBCLC to put together a care plan tailored for you.
If this is your first baby, or if you have had breastfeeding issues with previous children, an appointment with an IBCLC can be very helpful to put together a care plan just for you.
Melanie understands every family has different circumstances that play a role in your feeding journey. She’s got the knowledge and resources to help you reach the finish line.
Start antenatal expression of colostrum at 37 weeks.
If approved by your OBGYN or Midwife, antenatal expression can be started at 37 weeks. This has been shown to increase colostrum when baby arrives and seems to make milk come in more quickly and abundantly.
Added bonus: You can save the colostrum you express to have in case baby has weight loss, jaundice, or hypoglycemia.
If your insurance allows, get breast pump before baby arrives.
Most insurances will allow you to order a breast pump while you are still pregnant. This helps check one more thing off your to-do list before baby arrives.
Talk to your midwife, OBGYN, or an IBCLC to get a prescription. Yes, it’s like an actual prescription your insurance company needs.
Allow baby to self-latch.
Did you know that allowing a baby to self-latch is the most effective way for a baby to get a good latch? New parents are often blown away at how a baby can hold their head up or appear to be “crawling” when firstborn.
A breast crawl is what is recommended for those first initial latches. The best positioning to do this is called laid-back or biological breastfeeding. Place your baby near your breat and watch the magic happen. They will squirm around and open their mouth, not only cute, biogocailly normal.
Delay bathing.
It’s now recommended to delay bathing for 24-48 hours to increase breastfeeding success. The amniotic fluid that is on baby has the same smell as mom’s montgomery' glands which are sebaceous (oil) glands that appear as small bumps around the dark area of the areola. This helps the newborn to find and latch onto the nipple.
Hand express colostrum after you breastfeed and spoon or cup feed to infant.
Jane Morton, an MD at the Standford Medical Center, recommends to breastfeed first and then hand express colostrum and spoon or cup feed baby the expressed colostrum until the milk comes in. This increases the amount removed from the breast which helps to bring milk in more quickly and abundantly. It also helps decrease the risk of jaundice, hypoglycemia or significant weight loss in infant.
As much skin on skin as possible.
It’s important to have as much skin on skin as possible. It increases the love hormone, oxytocin. Oxytocin is also the letdown hormone.
Moms who do skin-on-skin, have greater bonding and a more abundant milk supply than moms who bundle their babies. If you’re worried about baby getting cold, put a blanket on top of you both.
Did you know that your breasts will actually acclimate to what the baby needs for temperature. If your baby is cold, your breasts will warm up and if baby is hot, the breasts will cool.
If there are issues with latch, have baby assessed for tongue tie
By a tongue-tie trained IBCLC as soon as possible. If you are having any breastfeeding problems, please have a tongue-tie trained IBCLC assess your baby for ties.
Learn more about tongue tie from us here. Common symptoms of a tongue tie include: pain while feeding, frustrated feeds, long feeds, damaged nipples, high narrow palate, clicking at the breast, gassy, fussy, jaundice, poor weight gain, supply issues, etc.
Baby Bonds is a Boise-based company that serves parents and babies with expert lactation support.
Book Your Prenatal Visit Today!
Best Wishes To You & Your Little One!