Breastfeeding is, of course, Nature’s way of providing the absolute best for your baby, so it is advisable to try to feed your baby this way. Not only does breast milk provide essential and perfectly balanced nutrition, and give baby natural antibodies to protect her from infection and illness, but it also helps you to bond with your baby in a very intimate way.Breast milk provides a form of natural protection against many illnesses including ear infections, diarrhoea, gastro-enteritis and tummy upsets, chest infections and wheezing. Your baby will be at less risk of diabetes, eczema and asthma; she will have superior mental development and her teeth will grow in straighter. So for baby there are a lot of advantages. There are benefits for mum too! Less smelly nappies (diapers) are a plus, but it doesn’t stop there. Breastfeeding lowers the risk of ovarian cancer and pre-menopausal breast cancer, your stomach will return to its pre-pregnancy size quicker, and you will also benefit from stronger bones in later life.
If you decide to breastfeed, you should try to feed quite soon after birth so that the instinct to suck remains strong, and this will also help get breastfeeding off to a good start. It may be a very short feed as your baby will be exhausted and not terribly hungry at first – after all she’s been getting all the nutrition she needs via the umbilical cord up until now – but soon enough she will want a more substantial feed.
If you can feed your baby successfully it is advisable to do so for at least 4 months to get the full benefit of the antibodies, however any amount of breast is better than none and you should not feel guilty should you decide or need to give up sooner. It is a personal choice so try not to succumb to pressure from others around you and just be confident in your choice. Do try and introduce one bottle of expressed breast milk a day, as soon as baby is totally proficient at breastfeeding – usually within the first week. This is not only to give you the freedom to go out once in a while, but it is also a chance for your partner or other children to help feed the baby and can be a chance for you to catch up on your sleep. If you wait too long your baby will refuse the bottle and it will be very hard to get her to take one. My own daughter was 2 months premature and I know a lot about the difficulties that can arise when trying to get baby latched on properly and feeding successfully. Premature babies tend to have a lot of problems feeding because they are born too early to have the sucking reflex, and therefore have to learn it. I also know a lot about expressing breast milk and can advise you.
