Stephanie Hayes - Childbirth Companion Doula Care & Educational Support

https://globalhealthmedia.org/videos/attaching-your-baby-at-the-breast/

Attaching Your Baby at the Breast - Video - Global Health Media Project Good attachment will help a baby get more milk and make breastfeeding more comfortable. This video shows why good attachment is so important to breastfeeding

https://globalhealthmedia.org/portfolio-items/how-to-express-your-first-milk/?portfolioCats=191%2C94%2C13%2C23%2C65

How to Express Your First Milk Most babies born too small or too young will not be able to breastfeed well enough at first. As a new mother, you will need to learn how to remove your milk and give it to your baby by spoon, cup, or feeding tube. This video shows you how to express colostrum, your first milk.

https://globalhealthmedia.org/portfolio-items/attaching-your-baby-at-the-breast/?portfolioCats=191%2C94%2C13%2C23%2C65

Attaching Your Baby at the Breast Good attachment will help a baby get more milk and make breastfeeding more comfortable. This video shows why good attachment is so important to breastfeeding success and what a mother can do to deeply attach her baby to her breast. About the Breastfeeding Series » DOWNLOAD

Spread awareness. Show support.

Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month was first declared by President Ronald Reagan on October 25, 1988.
On that day he said:

"When a child loses his parent, they are called an orphan. When a spouse loses her or his partner, they are called a widow or widower. When parents lose their child, there isn't a word to describe them. This month recognizes the loss so many parents experience across the United States and around the world. It is also meant to inform and provide resources for parents who have lost children due to miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, molar pregnancy, stillbirths, birth defects, SIDS, and other causes.
Now, Therefore, I, Ronald Reagan, President of the United States of America, do hereby proclaim the month of October as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. I call upon the people of the United States to observe this month with appropriate programs, ceremonies, and activities."

You can help spread awareness and honor your baby this month with our calendar. Find out more information here:
https://www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org/awarenessmonth/

🔸Invisible Mother 🔸

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way
one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be
taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'

Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping
the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see
me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of
hands, nothing more! Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this??

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock
to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is
the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'

Some days I'm a crystal ball; 'Where's my other sock?, Where's my phone?,
What's for dinner?'

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes
that studied history, music and literature -but now, they had disappeared
into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's
going, she's gone!

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a
friend from England . She had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she
was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there,
looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to
compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when she
turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you
this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe . I wasn't exactly
sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'With admiration
for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover
what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could
pattern my work:

1) No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record
of their names.

2) These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never
see finished.

3) They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.

4) The passion of their building was fuelled by their faith that the
eyes of God saw everything.

A story of legend in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the
cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird
on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man,
'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that
will be covered by
the roof. No one will ever see it'

And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost
as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you. I see the sacrifices you
make every day, even when no one around you does.

No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've
baked, no Cub Scout meeting, no last minute errand is too small for me to
notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see
right now what it will become.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of
the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work
on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went
so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime
because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's
bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the
morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for 3
hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a
monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there
is anything more to say to his friend, he'd say, 'You're gonna love it
there...'

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're
doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel,
not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the
world by the sacrifices of invisible mothers.

💖
➖Original author: Nicole Johnson

As a doula, I learned a lot about supporting my breastfeeding clients. Now, as a postpartum nurse, I have been able provide the same care to new moms within the first 24-48 hours after birth. Even experienced moms or those who are reported to be “breastfeeding well independently” will benefit from a feeding assessment and observation. Sometimes simple adjustments and information have a huge impact on the confidence and comfort of a new motherbaby cuplets regardless of whether it’s her first or her tenth. Each baby, influencing birth factors, and potential changes in the mother and her supports can impact each breastfeeding journey differently. Never assume. Always fully assess.

Can’t breastfeed because your ni***es hurt too much?

This is the third in a series of “Can’t breastfeed”. First in the series was on medications on July 24, and then premature babies on July 30.

The mother in the attached photo could be the mother in the case study as the baby is very young and fixing the latch resulted in an immediate relief of pain (but she’s not the same mother).

Case study: I see a mother and her 24 hour baby. The mother has “toe curling ni**le pain” every time the baby latches on. I help the mother improve how the baby latches on and the mother has virtually no pain. Furthermore, the baby drinks well at the breast for the very first time even though “my milk has not come in yet”.

How a baby latches on is critical to making sure breastfeeding goes well. See: http://ibconline.ca/the-asymmetric-latch/and http://ibconline.ca/latch-quiz/. The earlier the latch is improved, the better.

But what happens far too often? Many mothers, instead of receiving help with the baby latching on, are given a ni**le shield (the “cure all” for every breastfeeding problem http://ibconline.ca/ni**le-shields/), or are told to take the baby off the breast and bottle feed the baby for a few days “until the ni***es heal”.

The trouble with the ni**le shield, the trouble with the “taking the baby off the breast for a few days” is that these “treatments” only appear to help. Neither a ni**le shield, nor bottle feeding the baby for a few days improves the baby’s latch. Do they help sometimes? Yes, on occasion, but with the result in many cases that the milk supply decreases, and the baby prefers the ni**le shield or bottle.

The older advice “don’t worry, just keep breastfeeding and the pain will go away in 2 to 3 weeks” also works sometimes. But why should mothers suffer for 2 or 3 weeks? Many new mothers know how excruciating ni**le pain can be. But breastfeeding should not hurt!

Want more information on preventing and treating sore ni***es? See our eBook "Breastfeeding: Empowering Parents". The eBook contains videos, links to scholarly articles and more: https://ibconline.ca/ebook/.
New! An audiobook of my book Dr Jack Newman’s Guide to Breastfeeding. https://www.audible.ca/pd/Dr-Jack-Newmans-Guide-to-Breastfeeding-Audiobook/1515933490?fbclid=IwAR0A9lIm4_QggS4wKjGxdZUGdl3sl_K1pbMjqGVpuhxZymtxtudkk-_BY1s

Can’t breastfeed yet because your baby is premature? There are many obstacles put in the way of breastfeeding premature babies.

See also Can’t breastfeed because you are taking medications? Posted July 24.

The attached photo shows a premature baby born at 28 weeks gestation and breastfeeding at the age of 10 days.

Myth #1: premature babies need to live in incubators.

Premature babies are more stable skin to skin with the mother than in an incubator http://ibconline.ca/premature1/ In fact, the sicker the baby the more this is true because skin to skin is what supports the physiological function of every system in the baby's body. The link http://ibconline.ca/premature1/lists several articles how Kangaroo Mother Care supports the physiological function of every system in the baby's body. Breastfeeding is much more likely to work well when the baby is in Kangaroo Mother Care.

Myth #2: premature babies cannot breastfeed until they are at least 34 weeks gestation.

Many premature babies can latch on and breastfeed (and receive milk) even by 28 weeks gestation and most well before 34 weeks gestation http://ibconline.ca/premature2/ See the attached photo.

Myth #3: “non-nutritive sucking” is a good way to teach premature babies to breastfeed

How does this make sense? There seem to be two reasons for some neonatal special care units to ask mothers to “empty” their breasts and only then put the baby to the breast. 1. To prevent the baby from “accidentally getting milk” before he is ready to suck and swallow, and thus aspirating milk. Why is a baby more likely to aspirate at the breast than from a bottle or nasogastric tube? And 2. So that the staff can measure how much the baby gets from the breast. Oh, we love to measure, but this process often results in mothers and babies never really breastfeeding successfully.

This notion also “supports” the notion that premature babies need to use pacifiers to learn to suck “before they are ready to swallow”.

Myth #4: Breastfeeding tires out premature babies (the same is said about term babies and babies with cardiac problems)

This notion seems to come from the idea that “babies transfer milk”. But babies do not transfer milk . Mothers transfer milk http://ibconline.ca/who-transfers/. But starting with the notion that “babies transfer milk”, essentially, that babies “suck milk out of the breast”, breastfeeding is felt to be “hard work” and babies fall asleep at the breast because they tire out. Babies tend to fall asleep at the breast when the flow of milk slows down.

Myth #5: Premature babies need to learn how to bottle feed before they can breastfeed

This one is still around. Never made sense and still doesn’t.

The use of bottles in NICUs usually results in very few premature babies leaving hospital exclusively breastfeeding.

Myth #6: Most premature babies need “human milk” fortifier.

“Human milk” fortifier is misnamed and is formula milk, and makes many, even health professionals, think that it’s made from breastmilk. Most such products are made from cow’s milk. “Human milk fortifier” has been associated with an increased risk of necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). If a premature baby needs extra nutrients and/or volume, these can be given with banked breastmilk, which is used more and more in some, but not all, special care units.

Want more information on breastfeeding the premature baby? See our eBook "Breastfeeding: Empowering Parents". The eBook contains videos, links to scholarly articles and more: https://ibconline.ca/ebook/.

New! An audiobook of my book Dr Jack Newman’s Guide to Breastfeeding. https://www.audible.ca/pd/Dr-Jack-Newmans-Guide-to-Breastfeeding-Audiobook/1515933490?fbclid=IwAR3pEM-CGHwn57sTHt5gT13lQzCpn-pRycvG7RSydw8IX7Ro25ZvOGUssfw

We don’t talk a lot about Bereaved Mother’s Day at SGM, because I believe ALL mothers should be honored on Mother’s Day. But for anyone who would like to know...today is Bereaved Mother’s Day. And we honor your motherhood today...just as we do everyday. Mothers missing your babies at any age, we see you. We stand with you. You are a beautiful mother.

sufficientgraceministries.org

A Must-See Heart-to-Heart Story Two families have forged a bond that redefines the term “heart-to-heart”, especially during the month of February which is celebrated as Heart Month. The fol...

Protect the golden hour after birth and watch the miracle unfold!

"As a labor and delivery nurse, I wanted to lay the groundwork for what is happening inside the baby as it is born. It’s something to be aware of and so worthy of respect."

https://www.scarymommy.com/golden-hour-after-birth/