Birth Bonding & Booby Traps

I know so many moms that had the desire to breastfeed their baby, but fell into the hospital's booby traps. My heart hurts for those moms, especially since the problems could have been avoided.

So, here is my best breastfeeding advice.......

If you really desire to breastfeed, you really need to prepare for your birth since the two go hand in hand. Many moms who birth in a hospital fall into the booby trap of wrong information and misleading advice. If you don't have the luxury of birthing in a baby-friendly hospital then there is a good chance you will have breastfeeding difficulties if you don't create a birth plan.

Hopefully, all hospitals across this country will one day be baby-friendly but as of now there are only 108, and if you are like me and live in Mississippi then you don't have access to even one in the entire state.......with that said, it's good to know your stuff!

Baby-Friendly hospitals follow The Ten Steps To Successful Breastfeeding:

1 -	Have a written breastfeeding policy that is routinely communicated to all health care staff.
2 -	Train all health care staff in skills necessary to implement this policy.
3 -	Inform all pregnant women about the benefits and management of breastfeeding.
4 -	Help mothers initiate breastfeeding within one hour of birth.
5 -	Show mothers how to breastfeed and how to maintain lactation, even if they are separated from their infants.
6 -	Give newborn infants no food or drink other than breastmilk, unless medically indicated.
7 -	Practice “rooming in”-- allow mothers and infants to remain together 24 hours a day.
8 -	Encourage breastfeeding on demand.
9 -	Give no pacifiers or artificial nipples to breastfeeding infants.
10 -	Foster the establishment of breastfeeding support groups and refer mothers to them on discharge from the hospital or clinic

Please pay close attention to #7 "rooming in"........this is so very important and many hospitals mislead moms into believing that it's okay to separate from YOUR NEWBORN BABY. 


It's not okay and can lead to major breastfeeding problems which causes many moms to give up on breastfeeding- More info on Rooming-in vs Nursery Care.


Make your own birthing plan that resembles baby-friendly hospital procedures and
express your concerns and encourage your hospital to implement baby-friendy hospital initiative!


Change never happens if everyone remains silent!

I obviously delivered in a hospital where I had to pay extra for private transitional care (I had to pay to keep my baby...crazy huh?) and it was worth every penny! If I could offer only one suggestion for successful breastfeeding, I would say ROOM-IN with your baby and keep that little angel skin-to-skin and you will be off to a great breastfeeding start!!

 

Don't let anyone convince you that it's better for your baby to be seperated from you after birth......it's just not the truth!

                                                       It's Bonding Time!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Booby Trap Series: Planning for a breastfeeding-friendly birth,

explains how to avoid hospital interventions, such as inductions that can cause breastfeeding problems like delays in milk coming in, breast edema, and sucking problems.