Breastfeeding Benefits and Tips

Mothers who choose to breastfeed benefit themselves, as well as their babies. For example, one of the most important benefits a baby receives from breastfeeding is the mother’s antibodies. One of the mother’s benefits is never paying for formula, which can be expensive.

The Additional Health Benefits of Breastfeeding

For the Baby:

According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, breastfeeding helps prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and reduces the possibility that the baby will become overweight/obese during childhood, develop leukemia, necrotizing enterocolitis, as well as celiac disease. Furthermore, breastfeeding decreases the likelihood that the baby will develop asthma, diabetes and allergies.

For the Mother:

Breastfeeding helps the mother lose excess weight and assists her uterus with returning to its pre-pregnancy size. When a mother breastfeeds, she decreases her likelihood of experiencing postpartum depression and delays the return of her menstrual cycle. Moreover, her risk of developing breast cancer, cardiovascular diseases, ovarian cancer, hypertension, endometrial cancer, rheumatoid arthritis and type 2 diabetes decreases.

Breastfeeding Tips: Preparing for Baby’s Arrival

During the last trimester of pregnancy, a mother who intends to breastfeed needs to begin preparing for her baby’s homecoming. Use the breastfeeding tips below to ease the transition into life as a breastfeeding mother.

4 Breastfeeding Tips—Getting Everything Ready to Bring Your Baby Home

Consider a Breastfeeding Class.

Some mothers find that taking a breastfeeding class helps them prepare for their baby’s arrival.

Have Everything Necessary for Breastfeeding Before Baby Arrives.

Purchase the items that mothers use for breastfeeding ahead of time (e.g., a breastfeeding cover, a nursing bra, soothing nipple covers and a nursing pillow).

A Complimentary Breast Pump?

Check with the hospital and health insurance company to see if they provide new mothers with a free breast pump. If not, purchasing a pump now is a good idea because, in the event that the mother needs to be away from her baby, she can pump and then store her milk.

Prior to the Baby’s Arrival, Consider Making an Appointment with the Pediatrician.

A mother who has questions about her baby and breastfeeding should consult the pediatrician who will be caring for her baby following his or her birth. Addressing concerns before the baby arrives is beneficial because once her baby is born, she will need time to recover and adjust to motherhood. Therefore, anything an expectant mother can take care of ahead of time is highly beneficial.

7 of the most common questions expectant mothers ask pediatricians include:

When should my baby be back up to his or her birth weight?
Which growth chart does the office use?
Do you think it is okay for a mother to use a nipple shield to help the baby latch on?
How often will my baby need to breastfeed?
What if I have poor milk production and have to add a supplement? Which formula do you recommend?
Would you recommend that I wake the baby so he or she can nurse during the night?
Should I limit the length of time my baby breastfeeds?

Besides all the other benefits of breastfeeding, it helps mother and baby build a strong bond. Contact Parker Pediatrics today to learn more.

Herbal Remedies and Supplements

This article is an excerpt from "The Nursing Mother's Problem Solver" by Claire Martin.

Many nursing mothers worry about whether they're producing enough milk. The general rule: If you're drinking enough water, juice, or other nonalcoholic fluids (8 to 12 ounces an hour), resting (such as you can), and nursing on demand, your breasts respond by making as much milk as your baby needs. If you're still concerned about boosting your milk supply, lots of nursing mothers swear by certain herbs-fenugreek, blessed thistle, and other herbs-to boost their milk supply, fight colds, and combat other problems. Often these herbs are in the form of teas, so it's hard to say whether a woman's milk supply is enhanced by the herbs or by the additional fluids she's drinking.

Do herbs work? The jury's still out. No medical studies prove the effectiveness of herbal milk-boosters. However, most cultures throughout the world identify certain herbs and plants as galactagogues. Some mothers and doctors believe that herbal remedies are largely responsible for their success in breastfeeding. Other moms report little measurable difference.

Some prescription drugs, as a side effect, do increase milk supply, so it's reasonable to believe that some herbs and plants contain similar chemicals.

However, even herbs and plants have side effects: A drug from what you think of as a "natural" source can be harmful or can have dangerous side effects. (And because herbal supplements are not tightly regulated in the United States, as they are in Germany and some other countries, the herbs used may be contaminated during preparation.) Even though your baby gets only a fraction of the dose you take, with certain herbs and plants, that may be too much for her immature digestive system. St. John's wort, a popular herbal alternative to prescription antidepressants, is not recommended for nursing mothers, partly because of its potential effect on babies.

Fenugreek, blessed thistle, raspberry leaf, fennel, and brewer's yeast are the safe herbal and over-the-counter treatments that seem to successfully increase milk supply. Many natural food stores carry Mother's Milk Tea, which combines those herbs. You can also take them in capsule form, but if you use tea infusions, you'll get the benefit of both fluid and herb.

It is difficult to drink enough tea to make a difference; tinctures and capsules are better. A typical dosage for fenugreek capsules or blessed thistle capsules is two capsules, three or four times a day, for a week. You can also take fenugreek or blessed thistle, or a combination, as a tincture if you don't mind ingesting the tincture's tiny amount of alcohol (which is the reason for the disclaimer that nursing mothers shouldn't take it).

Remember: Herbs or drugs alone probably won't solve the problem. You need to seek help from a lactation consultant to address other possible causes of your difficulties.

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About the Author

Claire Martin is a parenting writer at the Denver Post. Her writing has won national and regional awards, and has appeared in publications such as the St. Petersburg Times, Good Housekeeping, and Sunset magazine. She lives in Denver with her husband and two daughters, both of whom were breastfed.