Considered the elixir for your baby, breast milk and breastfeeding play a major role in your baby’s development. Over the years, the health benefits of breastfeeding have been emphasized to raise awareness about the impact of breastfeeding on your baby’s overall development.Also Read – How to cure vaginal infection in monsoon? All about causes, symptoms and treatment
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months. However, if we go by the statistics, only two out of five women start practicing within the first hour of childbirth. Also Read – Benefits of Corn Silk Tea: Did you know that corn silk tea can cure your kidney problems? Watch the video
Mansi Shah, A lactation consultant at Jaslok Hospital and Research Center shares the dos and don’ts for breastfeeding mothers. Also Read – Diabetes and skin problems: 5 expert-backed tips on how to prevent skin problems in diabetes
- D.O Get breastfeeding education in the prenatal period – as it helps parents prepare for and anticipate breastfeeding needs. Remember breastfeeding is like learning a new skill, especially for first time mothers and learning any new skill becomes easier with proper knowledge, patience and repetition. don’t do leave
- Immediately after birth D.O Initiate skin-to-skin contact and breastfeeding within one hour of birth with the help of your health care provider team. / Don’t avoid Taking painkillers that can make the baby lethargic, less willing to nurse and delay the initiation of breastfeeding.
- do Feed colostrum frequently: During the first two/three days after delivery, the mother produces a colorless to yellow fluid known as colostrum. It is less in quantity but sufficient for the baby when the mother feeds the baby frequently. It offers renowned nutritional and health benefits. don’t do Don’t make the mistake of discarding or throwing away the colostrum thinking it’s impure milk and not breastfeeding the baby during this period thinking milk production hasn’t started yet. Also, some babies cry a bit more during this period Do not be tempted to give the baby any other milk or liquids like water, sugar water, honey etc (pre-lacteal feeds) as it increases the risk of infection.
- D.O Keep baby close to mother in same bed/room after delivery. “Bedding in” or “rooming in” provides many benefits such as promoting demand feeding, helping the mother recognize and recognize early infant signs, late-declining breast milk and most importantly it also helps develop a strong emotional bond between mother and baby. doing. don’t do Keep the baby in a separate infant room.
- Breastfeeding is a joyful experience. D.O Practice proper attachment and positioning and the mother will not experience pain while breastfeeding. don’t do Continue with the pain. If the pain does not go away after the baby’s first few sucks, de-latch the baby and re-latch with the correct attachment and position.
- D.O Give the baby only breast milk for 1-6 months of life (exclusive breastfeeding). don’t do Give water during this period as breast milk contains enough water to meet the baby’s water requirement even in summer. Hiccups are a normal infant behavior, it does not mean that the baby is thirsty.
- D.O Use the monthly adequacy test to determine the adequacy of breast milk for your own infant that is urine and weight. Urination – The child should urinate at least 6-7 times in 24 hours, and the weight gain should be at least 500 grams per month. This indicates that the baby is getting enough breast milk from the mother.don’t do Always associate an infant’s crying with hunger or insufficient breast milk.
- don’t do Use a bottle to give the baby water or milk as it increases the risk of vomiting, loose motion, nipple confusion and accidental aspiration. A safer alternative is bowl/cup/bowl-spoon feeding. Also, don’t use pacifiers or teats.
