Survey on Lactation Support in Hospitals following Childbirth

If you are on my blog, you are interested in breastfeeding, right? Great, now please help me out for a minute as I try to learn more about the lactation support given to moms after having a baby.

I composed a very short survey (it should take you no more than 3-5 minutes to complete) that focuses on the support received in the hospital after you had your baby, if you got any help, that is. I read lots online about "bad" LCs and nurses who think they know how to consult a new mom but offer pathetic, unhelpful advice and I am curious to know how often this is happening. Other moms say that their hospital LCs were so amazing that if not for them, they wouldn't have breastfed longer than a day. So let's see.

Here is a link to the survey.

Some questions we'll consider:

• Do mothers receive lactation support in the hospital after childbirth?
• Do mothers receive help from IBCLCs or non-certified lactation consultants?
• How knowledgeable is that consultant?
• How effective is that help?
• Do mothers receive all the help they need at the hospital or do they require follow-up later on?

Breastfeeding vs. formula-feeding pros/cons for Mom

It's interesting that some of the very pros of breastfeeding are the same as those for formula-feeding, but in different ways! Just goes to show you that either method may work beautifully for each individual mom. At the end of the day it's up to you and your baby to figure out which method to use.

I've compiled a list of some of the benefits and disadvantages for both sides of the debate, from the mother's point of view. I've actually enlisted the help of my mom friends who formula feed so I can get some accurate and useful information from them. Stay tuned because I'll keep adding as I think of more pros and cons!

BREASTFEEDING PROS:

• You can breastfeed almost anywhere, any time, etc. without worrying about leaving bottles and formula at home. 
• You get to sleep more (at least in the early days) because you don't have to go make bottles in the middle of the night, nor do you have to be so on top of burping during and after feedings.
• You lose your baby weight faster.
• You lower your risk for contracting certain diseases (ovarian and breast cancer, for example)
• Lactational amenorrhea can give you months and even years of no periods!
• If qualifying for WIC and nursing a baby, you may be eligible to receive food benefits for a full year (instead of 6 months if you formula-feed).
• No nasty odor on your baby or his clothes (from spit-up) or in his diaper! 
• Baby is protected from lots of illnesses and receives your immunity from even more illnesses so you don't have to tend to a sick child as often.
• Baby may take to solids easier since he is exposed to a variety of tastes from his mom's milk since birth.
• You can use your breastmilk for so many physical ailments (e.g. in ears for during infections, in the nostrils as a moisturizer, to heal bruises quicker, for conjunctivitis).

FORMULA-FEEDING PROS:

• You can give a bottle almost anywhere, any time, etc. You don't have to pull over during car rides.
• You can leave baby with a caregiver for extended periods of time. You're not tied down to the baby's schedule.
• You don't get any of the hormonal ups and downs associated with breastfeeding
• Anyone can feed the baby, like Dad! Especially handy in the middle of the night.
• Easy option for feeding a baby if a mother has a complicated delivery and is unable to nurse.
• You know exactly how much your baby drank in a feeding so no second-guessing there.
• Your figure doesn't change much so you can actually fit into clothing you used to (no automatic boob jobs for you).
• Bottle-feeding is more accepted in public situations so you don't have to leave the room to go nurse.

BREASTFEEDING CONS:

• Hormonal differences - your body might not behave the way it did pre-pregnancy. 
• Physical issues such as inverted nipples, nursing pain, latch issues, IGT (insufficient glandular tissue)
• Milk supply levels can be a concern at times
• You have to pump if you work out of the house and can't nurse your baby.
• Only you can feed your baby, nobody else! Unless, of course, you pump (ugh).
• Not all contraceptives are ok for a breastfeeding mom.
• Mother has to watch what she consumes: no alcohol, unsafe medications, foods causing an allergy in her baby etc.
• It may be impossible to switch to nursing if you haven't early on, or if a long while has elapsed since you last nursed.
• Nursing may make you feel like a "cow" (or like having one!)

FORMULA-FEEDING CONS:

• Formula has a nasty smell and is annoying to prepare the right way (following the guidelines).
• The nasty smell continues to spit-up, diapers, etc.
• Formula stains clothing.
• Formula is expensive! So is a full stock of baby bottles.
• You can't just decide to give your baby a bottle anywhere if you're not properly equipped.
• Washing out bottles isn't that fun.
• Baby may be allergic to some formulas

Nursing at night and milk supply

On a parenting forum, someone wanted to know if she can skip feedings at night (and have her husband give the baby a bottle those times) and still keep her milk supply at a good level. It got me thinking about the ramifications of this breastfeeding "shortcut".

In the beginning, when your baby is a newborn, you start founding your milk supply "factories". Nurse often, on demand, and you are setting up lots of factories in full production mode. Nurse only sometimes, or most of the time (but not each time baby has to eat) and you're leaving out some valuable establishments. In the beginning your milk is just being produced based on your hormones that were set into motion when you experienced labor and delivery.

It's also so important to nurse AT NIGHT especially because your milk-making hormone called prolactin functions at its best during the night. So one nursing session at night can be much more effective in maintaining your supply than a session by day.

Now, at some point your milk supply will regulate. Your hormones that accompanied labor and delivery are phasing out and your milk won't be gushing out like there's no tomorrow. This point varies in women. Some find that their milk regulates at six weeks, while for others (especially those with oversupply issues) tend to find their supply regulating several months later. My supply regulated when Sam was three months old. This can happen overnight, suddenly, or gradually (for me it was rather suddenly).

At that point, your system of supply and demand takes over. Now is when your factory system comes into play. If you have 5 factories in working order versus 15 factories, it'll obviously be way harder to keep up to the demands of your baby. That's why it's so important in the early days to nurse, nurse, nurse. Your baby cannot overdose on nursing.

Some mothers who skip feedings at night will have no problem with nursing later on. But many do. A key difference would be whether the mother is separated from her baby during the day or stays at home with her child. If a mother has to pump because of a separation, it can be a lot more difficult than nursing on demand if she was at home. Say you can't produce enough with the pump, now what? But if you're at home with your baby it's a lot easier since you can nurse several times that day if your baby doesn't fill up with less feedings.

Additionally, lots of mothers have oversupply issues so skipping a feeding might make them uncomfortable later on, but wouldn't really harm their supply. Also, just because a lot of people can manage doing something, doesn't mean that this is the norm and the "right" way to approach something. A lot of people don't wear seat belts and don't die in car accidents, just as a dramatic example.