Breast Feeding

Breastfeeding is recognised as what is best for your baby, as its a natural source of nutrition specifically created for your baby by your body containing natural antibodies to help their immune system. The most immunity boost your baby gets is from the colostrum, which is what is produced first, therefore some mothers choose to feed their babies just colostrum, whether it is by breastfeeding, or syringing / pumping the colustrum from their breast to feed to their baby.

I believe every parent has the right to make that decision for themselves and therefore my pages are not here to tell you right from wrong, this page has therefore designed to offer a few tips and advice on breastfeeding.

The most frustrating part of breastfeeding, is learning how to do it. Whilst there is support for mothers wishing to learn how to breastfeed, some mothers sometimes feel slightly bullied with the amount of pressure there is to breastfeed their baby, which leads them to finding the whole process overwhelming.

The most important advice I can offer is to not allow yourself to be bullied, and to do it because you want to do it. Some babies won't latch on, don't give up straight away if you want to breastfeed, and things aren't going to plan, remember child birth is hard work for the baby too, and it maybe they have a headache from the type of delivery, it maybe you are feeling a bit too tired or stressed from the whole experience and therefore your baby is feeling uneasy. It maybe that your baby just does not want to breastfeed, but never feel that you have failed if this is the case.

Advantages of Breastfeeding:

* It is free, and always available at the right temperature!
* Helps your build up your babies immune system
* Helps you to lose weight, and fight against some types of cancer (ovarian / breast)
* Can aid childs mental development
* Good for bonding, due to the closeness you have with your baby

Disadvantages of Breastfeeding:

* Breastfeeding is known to often cause mastitis, which can be extremely painful and is recommended that you feed through having it (unless it is infected)
* Medications that YOU are taking can be passed onto your baby
* In some cases not enough milk is produced to satisfy the babies needs
* You will need to wean your baby onto taking your milk from a bottle if you return to work
* Expressing can take up a lot of time, and is very demanding
* Babies tend to wake more for a feed as they take little and often.
* Your partner cannot participate in the bonding process

There are many sites with tips on how to breastfeed, whilst collating this information before you have your baby is useful, the best way to learn is through practical help from your midwife and health visitor who will always be on hand to help you learn, and be on call through the days when your baby is being a little more difficult to latch onto the breast! Many areas also have breastfeeding support groups, such as BAPS, or NCT groups.