The Breastfeeding Diaries: Chapter One – The Journey Begins.

The day my baby was born was also the first time someone made me feel like a failure as a mother.

Diya was howling, I was trying to get her to latch. After many futile attempts, both Diya and I were in tears, and nowhere close to latching. A prim nurse marched into my hospital room, snatched my baby from me and soothed her. She turned to me and snapped, “Cant you comfort her? What kind of mother are you?”

Giving birth doesn’t automatically give you all the answers. Most people expect you to instinctively know what to do, and in some ways that is true. But there are so many things I wish I’d known before I began my journey.

The first day. WHO recommends three solid strategies to help initiate and sustain breastfeeding.

1. Skin to skin contact at birth. When Shraddha’s baby was born, we put little Inara on to her mothers chest. There she stayed, mother and baby meeting for the first time. For Inara, this helped her calm down, safe in the familiarity of her mother, heart beat and breathing steadying. The warmth of her mothers skin regulates her body temperature, helping her recover from the rude shock of being cast from her mothers womb. Her skin gets colonised with her mama’s bacteria, safeguarding her against infection. For Shraddha, this early, heavy duty bonding forms a lasting impact. Hormones that produce breast milk start to form.
2. Initiating breastfeeding within one hour of birth. Whether caesarean or vaginal delivery, unless there is a strong reason, breastfeeding should be initiated within the first hour after birth. We refer to this as “on-table” feeding, and strive to make this happen with each of our mothers.
3. Mothers should receive “practical support.” This means mothers should have someone on their side who will talk to them, dispel any myths and help them deal with common issues/difficulties with breastfeeding. In the west they are lucky to have Breastfeeding Consultants. In India, we have our mothers, grandmothers and friends. Talk to people. Find out what problems they had, and how they dealt with them. Be mentally prepared, know this isn’t easy and stay strong. As doctors, we are always there for any and every question or doubt a mother may have. Trained maternity nurses are (usually) the best guides and comfort for a new mother. Make sure you don’t leave the hospital before you are 100% confident with feeding.

Other interesting and must know facts for day one.

Your baby’s stomach is the size of a cherry on the first day of life! That means whatever milk you produce is more than enough for your little one. Water, formula are best avoided.

Colostrum. Otherwise known as liquid gold. This is the name given to the milk produced on the first day. No formula, no matter how expensive is going to be able to provide your baby with the heady little cocktail of nutrition, antibodies, protein and fat that colostrum provides. The quantity produced may not seem like much, but proteins and fat are so highly concentrated it is more than enough to satisfy your baby. The composition is such that your newborns fragile, developing intestinal system is not harmed and able to digest well. Colostrum also encourages baby to have their first major poop, getting rid of ‘Meconium'(the green coloured substance present in baby intestines at birth) and preventing certain kinds of jaundice.

Your baby is learning to breastfeed. And so are you! Dont put too much pressure on yourself or your baby. Learn to respond to his/ her cues. Not latching? Ask yourself if there could be another reason. Are they gassy? Do they have a wet diaper? Try other avenues – burp them, change their diaper, comfort them. Try again. You and your baby have to find your own rhythm. It is never one size that fits all. And once you fall into it, all will be well.

Your baby has innate reflexes that will enable him/ her to feed. Never push the nipple directly into the mouth, rather graze the angle of her lips with your breast. The baby instinctively turns and opens their mouth, searching for the nipple and latching on. Make sure the Entire nipple is in the babys mouth. This includes the wide area of pigmented skin around the nipple elevation. This will ensure the baby uses his/ her tongue to suck, and not those (surprisingly) hard little gums – which is the cause of most cracks, fissures and painful feeding.

Four years and two breast fed babies down the line, I hear a baby fussing through the door of one of my patients rooms. Peeping in, I see a young mother intent on getting her baby to latch. The little one isn’t having it, yelling her little lungs out. I put my hand on her shoulder, a mark of solidarity. “Soothe her. Then try feeding her again.” Mama looks up and me and wordlessly changes tactics. A couple of cuddles, coos and I-Love-Yous later, mama and baby were latched and feeding well.

Good luck moms. Heres wishing you a satisfying, beautiful start to a beautiful journey.