The Boob Group
How to NOT Need A Lactation Consultant
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Robin Kaplan: When a woman becomes pregnant and after the birth of her child, there are many things she can do to help get breastfeeding off to a great start. What resources should she turn to and what preparations can she do ahead of time? Today, I’m excited to introduce Denise Altman, an RN, an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant and Lamaze Certified Childbirth Educator to our show. Today, we are discussing how to not need a lactation consultant. This is The Boob Group.
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Robin Kaplan: Welcome to The Boob Group, broadcasting from The Birth Education Center of San Diego. I’m your host, Robin Kaplan. I’m also an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant and owner of the San Diego Breastfeeding Center. At the Boob Group, we are your online support group for all things related to breastfeeding. Have you joined our brand new Boob Group club? All Boob Group club members can get access to our archived episodes plus, bonus interviews, transcripts and special discounts and giveaways from our partners, plus you can interact with all these great content through the web or through our free Boob Group app which is available at Amazon market place as well as the iTunes stores for Apple. Today, I’m joined by three lovely panelists in the studio. Ladies, will you please introduce yourselves?
Sunny Gault: Hi everyone! My name is Sunny Gault. I am 34 years old and I am the host and producer of The Boob Group sister show Preggie Pals which is all about pregnancy. I have two little boys at home. One is just over 2 and the one I’m breastfeeding is just about 6 months old.
Jade King: Hi, I’m Jade. I am 29 years old. I’m a stay-at-home mom to a 7 month old son. He is at home with dad for the first time. [Laughs]
Robin Kaplan: Thank you for coming in. [Laughs]
Jessica Lamphere: Hi everyone! My name is Jessica. I am 25. I am a Yoga teacher and I’m working towards becoming a Hypnobirthing instructor. I have one daughter who is almost 11 months old named Angelica and I’m so excited to be here today, thank you!
Robin Kaplan: Thank you ladies and welcome to the show!
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[Featured Segment: Ask the Experts]
Robin Kaplan: So, here’s a question from one of our listeners. Megan wrote, “is there an episode I can listen to about starting your period while nursing. I’m really paranoid about losing my supply. I’m looking for tips to prepare myself.” Well Megan, we actually don’t have an episode but here is our expert Rose deVigne-Jackiewicz who is going to answer your question for you.
Rose deVigne: Hi Megan, this Rose deVigne-Jackiewicz, board certified lactation consultant at the outpatient clinic in San Diego at Kaiser Permanente. You had some concerns about starting your period again and losing your milk supply. Typically if you are nursing and not having any problems when your period does return, the only thing you really need to worry about is getting pregnant again because you are most likely fertile now. However, your milk doesn’t go bad when you start your period. There has been some moms that have felt that the baby noticed a slight change in flavor and it’s probably hormone shift that after a day or two that, that results. So, during your periods, you may have a baby that doesn’t nurse as much often. Some moms have noticed because of their hormonal shift that they felt like there’s a little bit of a decrease for a day or two but, once your period has started and your hormones shift back, there shouldn’t be a problem. Many, many women nurse for a long period of time even though they started having their periods. So, it should not cause your milk to dry up if you continue to nurse. So, hopefully, that’s helpful. Thanks so much! Bye, bye!
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Robin Kaplan: Today on The Boob Group, we’re discussing how to not need a lactation consultant. Our expert Denise Altman is a private practice lactation consultant and nurse educator as well as the owner of All The Best in Columbia, South Carolina. She is also a freelance writer with numerous articles for parents and healthcare professionals in print as well as two medical textbooks called “History and Assessment: It’s all in the details” and “Mentoring our future”. Thanks so much for joining us Denise and welcome to the show.
Denise Altman: Thank you for having me Robin.
Robin Kaplan: So Denise, for a mom not to need a lactation consultant, do you think that she needs a lot of preparation for breastfeeding while she’s pregnant?
Denise Altman: You know, that’s a yes and a no answer. No, because we are biologically made to breastfeed our babies or biologically need to breastfeed so, physically does she need to do a lot of prep work? Nope! But, mentally, yes, she needs to prepare her brain. The people who are first-time moms, this is a whole new aspect of her life, yet. It’s gonna include her change originally for anyone to communicate how much that’s gonna reach to her or her partner. So, you know, you need to start with the basics, of course, healthy pregnancy, taking care of herself, getting the prenatal care, all these things impact breastfeeding experience. On top of that, if she is a working woman, then or in school, she needs to start clearing desk about midway through pregnancy, preparing for her maternity leave, preparing for the birth. What I see in my practice is that a lot of mamas get busier towards the end of pregnancy rather than lightening their workload and this can have some real carry over into her initial postpartum period if you’re not preparing ahead. And then, finally, preparing the brain by giving some good education and prenatal classes and lots of reading and, you know, finding resources that sort of things.
Robin Kaplan: So, talking about those types of resources, how important do you think it is for a pregnant mom to take a breastfeeding class and or all these classes are same?
Denise Altman: Well, I happen to believe as a prenatal educator and that’s what my background is, that prenatal classes, especially breastfeeding classes are very important. Are they all the same? No, absolutely not! Just like, none of us are all the same. The mama needs to do her research and identify what is in her area and there are traditional classes from the hospital, private practitioners, she can find classes with doulas, birth centers, you know, there could be individual classes in the home, traditional classes in the classrooms even online courses. If she really needs to research what’s in her area, what it feels like to her? A lot of younger mothers like online learning which can be a great resource but can also be limited because many of them are recorded and she can’t have her own individual questions answered right on the spot. She needs to consider what it feels to her, what is available to her very often there is a cost effect creating with it and she also needs to look at the content of the class itself to tell about the benefits of breastfeeding that’s nice but usually you can get that anywhere. She needs to know the do’s and don’ts to how to, to what to do if the breastfeeding experience is going itself, she also needs to know the Prudential’s of the individuals who is offering the class, teaching it and you know, how does she know what they are saying is accurate and up to date. So, it does needs an investigation to find the right class for her but yes, sort answer again but a prenatal class is very important.
Robin Kaplan : That’s great advice and do you have any recommendations or any personal favorites of books and websites that you would offer to a pregnant mom to have a, maybe keep in her breastfeeding library?
Denise Altman : Okay, being a book addict I really had to carry down a recommendation list and especially for a pregnant mom there is a lot of great books out there does she need them more? Absolutely not, especially most women don’t need the problem of reading any books so I like to recommend the books and websites that are all about the basics and of course the mother organization of us all La Leche League and The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding book, the La Leche League website and the Womanly Artbook those are both are excellent basic resources for mothers. I also include a lot of troubleshooting information and even some of the unexpected resources that you may look forward such as nursing after surgery and that kind of thing. https://www.Kellymom.com another excellent website not a week goes by where I’m not recommended like you to several moms so, that’s probably the one I am on the most and as well the website that I am talking about the most. Breastfeeding Made Simple is a great book by, Kathleen Kendall-Tackett and Nancy Mohrbacher, I like it because it is a little bit simple and manageable with a very basic step-by-step instruction that’s extremely well laid out. So, that’s probably one of my favorites, the Boob Group materials of course,
Robin Kaplan : Oh! Thank you.
Denise Altman : Especially for mammas who likes to listen, I am an audio person myself I am also a great reader but finally “The Best For Babes” website talks all about the booby traps. I think the frank and honest communication that’s offered to mammas on their website is a very important resource during pregnancy when moms actually have the time to read and may be process a little bit what’s being said.
Robin Kaplan : Oh! Those are such great recommendations, thank you Denise. So, I am gonna open this up to our panelists as well, ladies what type of breastfeeding preparation did you do before you had your baby and do you think this preparation was helpful? Sunny, do you mind starting off?
Sunny Gault : No, not at all. I kind of slack in this department, I had to tell you, I don’t know we can all say “we are so busy, we are so busy” and I should know better because this last time was my second and things did not go exactly the way it wanted them to with my first. So, you think I would have done more prep work, I have to, I have to say this really isn’t a plug, I promise, but helping to produce the episodes of the Boob Group and setting in on these tapings, we started recordings these when I was still pregnant and it forced me to you know, to listen and to really be more an active participant in the whole thing. And you know, I think it really get me off to a good start and then even I was just being able to talk to you after the shows like “Okay, well you know, this was brought up in this conversation and this is something I struggled with” and this was, what my kind of experience was I kind of felt like I had a little bit of one on one which kind of for most people probably would have been like having a you know, consultation with a lactation consultant, that’s kind of what it was. But it wasn’t formulized you know, but as far as reading books and stuffs like that, talking to other moms on Facebook and just even being a fly on the wall with some great Facebook groups out there of moms that are sharing their experiences and their struggles and their success stories. And all that, that needs to come very naturally to me, if it’s not natural it’s just not gonna work.
Robin Kaplan : Thank you, how about you Jade?
Jade King : I feel like I am in the minority you know, I took the breathing class and one of them in the evenings on breastfeeding and honestly I didn’t take it seriously just because we are nursing dolls you know, I was just, it just didn’t, it didn’t feel real for me either you know. And I just figured you know, it will come natural to me and you know, I know what to do I have my baby and I was lucky enough you know, my baby was able to latch even though he was in the NICU for few days. And yeah, it just worked out I mean as far as pumping goes that’s a whole another story but, yeah we were really lucky.
Robin Kaplan : That’s great, that’s great. How about you Jessica?
Jessica Lamphere : I am all about you know, just trusting my body and I just assumed it was not gonna be a problem at all, I was just gonna read a book, take a class or doing anything I was just kind of hoping for the best and just trusting the process. And then my due date comes around, I am still pregnant and I decide “okay, what else can I do to show this baby that I am ready?” And so, I sent it for a breastfeeding class on my due date and it was a whole bunch of another Hypnobirthing moms and it was just so great because you were just in this, already like set in the support group with all these other women in the same situation you could just sit back and just have an expert you know, tell you what you needed to know. And there is so many things you don’t even know ask you know, that I would have no idea like when do you switch from you know, side to side or visit things that you have never breastfed you have no idea as even a question. So, I felt extremely prepared I had a list of people to call if I had questions and so, I just felt so much support, had so many resources just given to me. I think it was like $30 dollars and it was so worth it, I still have my little, there was a PowerPoint presentation, I still have my printouts in my and I felt like home, it was awesome I would definitely recommend it.
Robin Kaplan : That’s fantastic, Denise, how, how can a women’s OBGYN’s or midwives have a significant impact on she is able to get breastfeeding off to a great start?
Denise Altman : Well, this is a trust relationship again the woman is in a very impactful time of the life during pregnancy be it first or your fifth and you almost you know, when you have an OBGYN or midwife or a primary caregiver you have a, it’s almost, it’s a very personal relationship. When you have a tendency in trust relationship to develop a rapport hopefully and you put a lot of validity in what they say, how they say it and that kind of thing so, when the OBGYN/midwife is at least knowledgeable about breastfeeding or encouraging and promoting breastfeeding then that really certainly does have an impact on decision making, in addition to that if that practice is very positive breastfeeding then there’s going to be training across the board. When the mother has a problem and she calls her OBGYN or midwife first even over the Pediatrician and so the person answering that call is usually not the primary caregiver, it’s a nurse or medical assistant or whoever is being triaged that day. And so, it all kind of flows down here as the caregiver is knowledgeable and encouraging then there the staff is more likely to be as well and if they don’t know the answer, their local resources and can get that mother referred to help if she needs it. Adversely if at the doctor’s office they are handling a mom at their very first appointment, a packet of papers on pregnancy care and well care plus a little gift with formula and that also sounds strong with the mom either if this is what the primary caregiver is recommending and that considerably has a long term impact as well.
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Robin Kaplan : Thank you so much, panelists how, how are your OB’s and midwives where they supportive at breastfeeding? Did they talk to you about it during your prenatal visits? Did you get a sense that they felt it important? Jessica, how about you?
Jessica Lamphere : I started off with an OBYN and I did get that gift bag with the formula, they also had a really high rate of C sections it wasn’t really good to fit. So, I switched over to a midwife and I don’t remember really talking about breastfeeding as much because there was just so given to me, I knew that I was gonna do it. There really wasn’t you know, it wasn’t an issue of conversation because it was just a gift given, when I had the baby and I was in the hospital it was actually the nurses on the floor that were helping the midwife that you know, showed me how to bring the baby to me and different positions and stuff and that was really helpful you know, they offered tips. And it was kind of encouraging me and but the midwife herself wasn’t really involved in that aspect as much.
Robin Kaplan : Okay, how about you Jade?
Jade King : During my prenatal care the midwives were very progressed feeding I mean, there was never a question whether or not I would breastfeed but I ended up giving birth in the hospital and the baby was taken to NICU immediately. So, there wasn’t a chance for me to have skin to skin contact or breastfeed my son right away so, I was given a pump and just told to use it, I wasn’t shown how to use or how often to use it. So, it was a lot of confusion that happened there but when I did visit my son in the NICU and he was out of his bubble and I was able to touch him and hold him and feed him, the nurses there were really helpful in helping me breastfeed him. And I was there every chance I got to feed him because I didn’t want you know, him to have any formula, any more formula or to be given a bottle you know, I just wanted him to breastfeed and I wanted to get off on the breastfed possible.
Robin Kaplan : Absolutely and Denise will definitely be talking about what your recommendations are for after the baby is born and when we come back in a few minutes but Sunny can you share what your experience as with your OB’s, I don’t know if you had a midwife?
Sunny Gault : I had an OB and they consisted of “do you plan the breastfeed? Yes, okay check that off my list” that was pretty much it and I don’t know if it was because it was my second time around. And they, I think they knew that I had breastfed my first but they didn’t ask me questions like “Hey, did everything go okay? Is there anything you wanted to change?” there were no follow up questions. And then when I gave birth I had a plan to cesarean due to complications from my first and you know, the baby came out and we started breastfeeding right away and it wasn’t a struggle, it happened to me very naturally. So, I don’t know if that’s why you know, lot of people didn’t even approach me then, I wasn’t still sure that I was doing everything right so, couple of times I did ask to see an LC and they basically said “Oh! Well, no one here is trained; all of our nurses here are trained to be able to answer your questions. If you really want to see an LC that’s okay but just know that you can talk to anybody.” But it wasn’t, I guess I just wanted them to take even more initiative and I did give birth at a baby friendly hospital but again may be they just thought that I had can handle, it was my second and I should know the stuff by now I mean, I, I, it’s kind of dangerous to assume. But at the same time I really wanted people to be proactive in it.
Robin Kaplan : Absolutely, Denise do you have, do you have any comments you wanna mention to these panelists?
Denise Altman : It’s interesting because you are on the other side of the United States, and I am assuming that for your panelists live as well.
Robin Kaplan : Yes.
Denise Altman : Yet, much of what they said I experienced at least in my practice as well it’s pretty universal and the mammas who are not first time mammas often do get the raw end of the deal where health care professionals assume that they know everything they need to know. And well this is an easy one we can check the box up and go to the tough one in the next room and it’s not a lack of caring it’s an assumption just like you were saying. And you know, we really shouldn’t make these assumptions because even if this mom has a handle on everything maybe it’s a different baby.
Robin Kaplan : Absolutely.
Denise Altman : And you know, that, that has a big impact.
Robin Kaplan : I know, whenever I teach prenatal breastfeeding classes and I just talk briefly about my own experience with my kids, I say the second one even though I was an experienced breastfeeding mom he didn’t get any of the memos. Well you know, he was in the neutral because when he came out he was worse than the first and so, that’s such a good point Denise that, that every baby is so different, you cannot assume that a mom will know how to troubleshoot if the second baby is harder than the first. So, well ladies we are gonna take a very quick break but when we come back we will be talking with Denise on how a new mom can maximize your breastfeeding ease and not need a lactation consultant after the birth of her child. So, will be right back.
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Robin Kaplan : So, we are back and we are here talking with Denise Altman, who is an RN and IBCLC and an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant from Colombia, South Carolina. So, Denise our next question for you is now the baby is been born and the mom has taken all the classes that needs or maybe she even hasn’t but she is feeling really confident? And so, immediately after the birth what steps are most important for establishing this great breastfeeding relationship between mom and baby?
Denise Altman : Okay, well this is a “Uh” moment for mom and her partner, look at the nurse who is caring for right after delivery and has a fresh on the face itself. It’s kind of a “Oh! I don’t know what to do?” and the nurse in that position saying “Yo, yo” but that’s when you do with their help first and whoever is there, the health care professional that’s her job as a standard of care as a nurse or birth assistant if it’s a home birth, birth center birth, hospital birth it’s all the same. And so ask questions if you are helpless or not sure but of course we do this everywhere, get that baby feeding right away. When babies are born generally unless there is any birth complication, they usually have a very strong sucking reflex, reading reflex and we need a little help getting started but they know you “mamma best.” The amniotic fluid is a fluid with your own scent even though they have been more used, they know what you smell like and that’s very comforting to them, they know the sound of your voice they have been listening to for 40 weeks hopefully or if not whatever it is. They know the sound of your voice, they know the sound of our heartbeat and they have been held by you all their life so, they just want, needed the help more especially from experts because the world is lousy and cold.
So, putting that baby right skin to skin, letting them know they explore similarly their reading reflexes and then getting that first feeding and that’s been printing that kind of gets their brain wiring and all set to have a good nursing experience. It is the colostrum on board for pushing out the rest of the amniotic fluid of the intestines that they have been swallowing but it also gives him a very little energy drink because they have just done a lot of hard work coming into the world. So, just the tiny amount of colostrum that are transferred between mom and baby are enough for 24 hours and the early frequent feeding and stabilize the blood sugar level and kind of thing. In addition to having that baby skin to skin it helps them stabilize their temperature, their heart rate, their breathing and of course contra sounds. I am a huge addict of that first feeling right away even if mamma delivers by C section obviously whether it’s an emergency or not particularly if it’s not an emergency C section. The baby can nurse right and recovery and that can be pretty quick as in 35 to 40 minutes after the baby expects so, there may be a short separation but particularly in the traditional birth settings that the mom requests the baby will be brought to recovery right away as long as there is no issues with the baby. That’s really easy to do, medical staffs can do all the assessments while mamma is nursing they can listen to the baby’s heart count, the respiration and everything they need to so as long as the baby is transitioning well. So, there is no need for the nurse to take the baby away do stuffs and then bring the baby back, the other thing is just to get help from the staff frequently and often. The segment is about “how not to need an LC” but still you can ask for the lactation and watch the full feeding particularly if you have any problems but even if you are not and the best way to get help from the professionals because they are there to take care of you is to ask them to watch the feeding from the time the baby is prepared to feed either being wrapped from the blanket or mammas preparing the breasts to latch on to the sucking to the time the baby feeds. The whole entire feeding, the latches to the piece of the feeding couple of minutes while the baby is nursing, difficulties and issues can happen at any time or even right after seeing so, that’s why you ask them to watch the whole thing.
Finally, minimizing separation between mom and baby, a lot of mammas have been told and I have even been with one of those nurses that had said this Oh! Send the baby to the nursery so you can get a full night’s sleep. But we now know is that moms actually don’t sleep well when the baby is away from the nursery, many of them wake up during the night wondering “if my baby is okay? Where is my baby, is she crying? Is she hungry, does she need me?” And so, you actually ask the mamma “is she fragmented?” and I actually, I have mothers tell me this when I was a Child Birth Educator, I used to teach this in my child birth classes and mothers came and asked me “we can’t sleep when our babies are away from us.” It’s finally been backed up in the research in the last 5 or 6 years we know, we have seen moms who have been awake during the nights as well as other research studies they need to be together and truly that’s how you can do late feedings and feeding difficulties when the baby is ready.
Robin Kaplan : Yeah, thank you so much Denise. Ladies, do you mind kind of talking about what your experiences was after your baby was born and did you ask for lots of help in the hospital? Did you have a visitor policy for example, what types of things really helped you get breastfeeding off to a start so that when you got home you didn’t have to pick up the phone immediately like “I did” and call a lactation consultant? Jessica, do you mind starting off?
Jessica Lamphere : Yeah, so I had the baby put right on my chest after she was born, the cord was still attached you know, after the cord starts subtle they may cut it, I just had her on my chest the whole time so, the breastfeeding just happened right away. The only issue was that she sucks so hard that I kind of blistered a little bit and I consulted the nurses and they tried to give the breast shields but those were just such like a turn off I just could not get comfortable with those. So, I am like you know, I am not gonna use them to deal with the blistering and it lasted for like one feeding and then it went away and it just goes kind of adjustment and shocking for my nipples. But everything was fine, we set up, we didn’t have any friends come to the hospital it’s just parents, everyone all of our families were out of town so, I kind of made it easier. But we were just you know kind of honest and get in parent mode where it’s kind of okay if you are little more offensive to people you know, you just gotta do what you want and not let you know, feelings really affect what you think is best. We had a sign on our door that said Hypnobirthing so you know, please talk in common voices, low lighting so, we kind of set the atmosphere right when you saw the door which I think really helped it wasn’t overwhelming at all for the baby and everything I really loved, it was really a great experience.
Robin Kaplan : Thank you, how about you Jade?
Jade King : Well, I got a chance to visit the baby, was there for most of his feedings, any time he fuzzed you know, I fed him I mean, I just felt that’s why he needed, that’s why he was fuzzing. When we got home I mean, my family lives in LA so, they weren’t able to just pop in whenever they wanted to, my husband’s parents work so, we were kind of on our own and I was able to feed my son freely throughout the house whenever I wanted to and that was really helpful. And it hurt I mean, that was, that was really one of the only issues that, that I had at the very beginning was that it really hurt and this can’t be, I can’t be doing it right you know, if it’s hurting this much but I was doing fine and you know, it was just me not really paying attention in the breathing classes I guess, when I should have been doing it all seriously. But yeah, it was, we had a pretty good start despite you know, my son being NICU so, yeah we did really well.
Robin Kaplan : Sunny, what about you? You had to kind of mention what your experience was there, you almost wished that you had a little more assistance but you also were doing fantastic?
Sunny Gault : I was doing, yeah I have a good latcher and he still is and I was very thankful for that, I will say I can’t say enough about skin to skin contact and what that does not only for the baby but for the mother. There is a chemical, there is a physical bond there and especially after you have just give birth whether it’s a natural birth or in my case with my last son you know, had this you know, I was all bundled up because of my C section and stuff. And you have been through trauma whatever it is and you just need to connect with your child I mean, there is nothing I think that heals better you know, then just having that relationship with your child. And so, skin to skin was due to not just right after he was born but you know, I was able to start breastfeeding like I said probably about 30 to 40 minutes after he came out, after the C section. So you know, like Denise said in recovery they brought him to me and I was just you know, started then but I will say I was in the hospital for may be two and a half or three days recuperating and I pretty much went two and a half, three days without wearing a shirt you know and I did. And I, it just kind of got in my head okay, I am not gonna be modest about this you know, they have seen a lot better I am sure. So, I am not gonna feel all weird them coming in because you know right after you have a baby you get a lot of traffic in and out of your room and so, I am just like “okay, this is fine.” I think my husband might have been a little bit more embarrassed about it than me but that was so important because you know, I didn’t feel like I always had to read my son’s queues or whatever when it came to breastfeeding because when he was awake I will bring him to breast, if he didn’t wanna nurse that’s fine but the opportunity was there for him.
Robin Kaplan : Absolutely, Denise I do wanna mention that just you know, just because of mom does need a lactation consultant it doesn’t mean that she is feeling her breastfeeding in any sense and you know, she may have done everything that we have spoken about during this episode. Yet, she still needs to see a lactation consultant not only in the hospital and when she gets home possibly and so, other certain situations that increase a mother’s risk for needing help from a lactation consultant especially after she has left the hospital?
Denise Altmen : Yes, there are certain situations that would increase risk you know, the various reasons why mothers call me or any mother calls any board-certified lactation consultant is same. However I feel even more important that is a mother who is getting so much confessing opinion everybody encounters and tells her something different and she is not sure who is right and who is not. And the problem is sometimes there are variant degrees of correct breastfeeding is not a black and white experience it’s very much a mother-baby dance. But the mother who’s got so much of information really needs to seek out somebody knowledgeable that she can build that relationship with and then kind of sort through which idea applies to her and her baby. So, that to me comes right up to the head of bliss and then pain of neck, it brace my heart to hear any mother talk about how badly it hurts in the beginning and when I was listening in a Pediatrician or child birth class or I wasn’t just doing it right. And every mother does that we also, we must do it, we just don’t have a board and that’s you know, at least in my experience it’s a lack specific codes and lack of efficient help and it may not be any of these things. It may not be our little baby who has got something going on either it’s moms who are on bed rest because they have a high risk of complicated pregnancy more likely to have a complicated birth which we do not know in fact the breastfeeding experience. Multiples included another set of babies can breastfeed but it does require a little bit of management sometimes juggling and as a mother of twins myself I tried to, yeah. Mothers of late preterm 38 weeks or less or of course preemie babies sometimes are late preterm babies which are between 34 and 38 34 and 37 weeks. These are little sneak little babies they look, they breathe well, their weight is good well when they are born but that sucks well and breathe coordination not so much. They are usually well before the night with their sucking and their feeding and often times don’t wait to feed more prone to jaundice, weight loss, low body temperature and again impacting breastfeeding. And it is kind of snowballs on the another side of things mothers with the history of breastfed, a history of clinical depression or risk of postpartum depression they really need to make sure that things are going well and the hormones are stable. Mothers who had a previous negative breastfeeding experience are already starving in their minds with a big strike against themselves and then finally mothers who have been given a tool, a nipple shield, a syringe, a bottle or anything to help concord with feedings then usually sucking’s are going on. But sometimes tolls often times tools but used inappropriately so, if a mother is given a tool by a nurse or an LC she does need some more help, she should have asked why she is been given this tool? What the purposes and how she will be able to work towards no longer using it? In order to decision making but also she needs to be followed by an IBCLC as well after the hospital birth.
Robin Kaplan : Absolutely, well thank you so much Denise. We had so many more questions we wanted to ask and we will just have to continue it on another episode I think but you really just, you touched upon you know, “how to not need a lactation consultant” and offered such a great advice, thank you. And for our Boob Group club members our conversation will continue after the end of the show, Denise will answer few more questions on this topic. For information about our Boob Group please visit our website at https://www.theboobgroup.com.
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[Featured Segments: Breastfeeding Multiple Babies]
Robin Kaplan : Before we wrap things up today here is Jona Rose Feinburg with some tips for breastfeeding multiples.
Jona Rose Feinberg : Hi, Boob Group this is Jona Rose Feinberg, editor of BreastfeedingTwins.org, I am a mom of twins and a Board Certified Lactation Consultant in the Seattle area. Today we are going to discuss some tips for giving good breastfeeding if your journey includes a stop in the near natal intensive care unit with special care nursery. When twins are born at term or only a little bit early with no additional medical concerns but as a group, multiple doesn’t increase the risk of complications resulting from high-risk pregnancy or premature delivery. If your babies are born early or face any help or challenges they need to spend some extra time in the hospital NICU. No one plans for NICU but if it turns out your babies need that extra support, care some tips to support your breastfeeding journey. Ask to speak with a lactation consultant, an IBCLC will be able to work a few tips for establishing milk supply and introduce breastfeeding to your babies when they are ready. Pumping with a hospital grade pump as soon as possible and continue pumping regularly to establish your milk supply, bring one of your babies blankets with you when you are pumping away from the hospital, sometimes we start to relax to a conky breast pump. This allows your babies and help you relax and also stimulates an Oxytocin in the brain, cuddle your babies skin to skin as soon as they are near, skin to skincare helps stabilize babies temperature and heart rate and a great facility for production, it’s also wonderful way to connect with your babies. I remember dads can do day care too, one of the most important thing you can do for your babies while they are in the NICU just to provide breast milk for them, breast milk is special for the preemies and even small amounts are valuable. For more tips and personal pumping stories please visit BreastfeedingTwins.org and keep listening to the Boob Group for more tips.
Robin Kaplan : Thank you so much to our experts and our panelists and to all of our listeners, if you have any questions about today’s show on the topics we discussed you can call our Boob Group hotline at 619-866-4775 and will answer your question on an upcoming episode. If you have a breastfeeding topic you got to suggest, we love to hear it simply visit our website at https://www.theboobgroup.com and send us an email through our contact link. Thanks for listening to the Boob Group because mothers know breasts.
[Disclaimer]
This has been a New Mommy Media production. Information and material contained in this episode are presented for educational purposes only. Suggestions and opinions expressed in this episode are not necessarily those of New Mommy Media and should not be considered facts. For such information in which areas are related to be accurate, it is not intended to replace or substitute for professional, Medical or advise or care and should not be used for diagnosing or treating any health care problem or disease or prescribing any medications. If you have questions or concerns regarding your physical or mental health or the health of your baby, please seek assistance from a qualified health care provider.
[00:40:44] [End Of Audio]
