Why every woman should breast feed her baby - for at least the fi 
Breast Feeding Information The following links will provide you with the some of the best information about breastfeeding I have found. For some great videos on how to breastfeed, go to: For the basics of good breast feeding, the best website is the one by Dr. Jack Newman and Edith Kernerman, two Canadian and world-renowned breast feeding experts. Go to: www.nbci.ca Other good sites include: The popular and easily accessible www.kellymom.com and www.breastfeedingonline La Leche League's sites www.lllc.ca and www.lli.org/nb.html An Australian site www.breastfeeding.asn.au Luna Lactation: This is a great website for information and resources on breastfeeding, especially on breastfeeding challenges: http://www.lunalactation.com/resources/ The Microbiome: Optimizing Your Baby's Health Before, During and After Birth The "microbiome" is the collection of bacteria, fungi and other organisms that live in and on all of our bodies. A healthy microbiome is critical to overall good health, and in particular to a healthy and effective immune system. We know that the pregnant woman's microbiome changes during pregnancy to prepare for the sharing of 'good' bacteria with her baby. This starts happening as soon as her waters break, and continues to happen as the baby passes through the birth canal, is placed skin-to-skin with its mother, and breastfeeds. We are now beginning to understand that some of the interventions we use, including C-section deliveries, separation of mothers and babies after birth, formula feeding, and the administration of antibiotics can all interfere with the healthy transfer of the mother's microbiome to the baby. To understand more about this and what you can do to ensure your baby gets the best start possible, check out this website: Here is an article about breastfeeding and its importance to the baby's microbiome: http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/breast-feeding-the-microbiome Cup Feeding Your Baby If you are pumping, make sure your breast pump fits your breasts!If you are unable to breast feed your newborn and need to supplement, but would prefer not to use a bottle, you might want to consider cup feeding. This is a video that shows you how to do it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ZCm_MhP39M If you are having a problem with supply: Here's a link to a website with all sorts of products to help increase your milk supply. Read the testimonials and see what you think. All of the ingredients are similar to ones midwives and lactation consultants frequently recommend to support lactation. Videos For inspiration, watch a newborn baby attach himself to his mother's breast within minutes of birth. Go to: www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9WtH4dq-cw&feature=related The baby is using its natural survival instincts to do what it most needs and wants to do after it's born - get to the breast and get something to eat. You will be amazed at how purposefully this baby moves. And even if this doesn't happen immediately after birth, or even for weeks after, this instinct remains, and you can try it with your own baby. Start with lots of skin-to-skin! If you want to go directly to the videos on the site, you will find a list of all of the videos on the site, with a brief description of what they are about, at: www.breastfeedinginc.ca/content.php?pagename=videos For some great videos on how to breastfeed, go to: If you only want to watch one video, consider making it this one! www.breastfeedinginc.ca/content.php?pagename=vid-2dayold This video shows a 2 day old baby breast feeding well, with a good latch. BUT this baby was not feeding well for the first 36 hours and so became dehydrated and jaundiced. This may be the best video for good basic breast feeding technique that will help to make sure that you and your baby get off to a good start and that you prevent your baby from becoming dehydrated and jaundiced. Before you go out and buy a breast pump, take a look at this video! New research shows that hand
expression is better for mum and baby than pumping. And that most women will get more milk by hand expressing than by using a pump. For a good video on
how to do it, go to: http://newborns.stanford.edu/Breastfeeding/HandExpression.html Suggestions for other good videos or resources about breast feeding are welcome! |
