Breastfeeding

For mothers, breastfeeding and the closeness it brings often trigger a great feeling of happiness. This helps to overcome the often exhausting strains of the first months more easily. The hormones whose release is triggered by the baby's sucking in the mother's body play a major role here.

Breastfeeding mothers experience faster uterine involution after birth and have been shown to develop less breast and ovarian cancer.

Already in the womb, the baby has practiced sucking, sucked his thumb and drunk amniotic fluid. The hormonal system during pregnancy has prepared the mother's body and breast for breastfeeding. So when your baby is born, everything is taken care of.

If possible, mothers should be able to have skin-to-skin contact with their baby immediately after birth. When the baby has recovered somewhat from the exertions of birth, it will begin to suckle at the breast all by itself. Take your time and that of your baby. After a while, it will be ready.

Newborns have small stomachs and need frequent small meals. How often you breastfeed depends on your baby's needs. In special situations, your baby may need to be awakened to breastfeed, such as when he or she is not gaining enough weight, when he or she is not drinking well, or when he or she is jaundiced (hyperbilirubinemia).

Most newborns want to nurse about 10 to 12 times in a 24-hour period, or more often.

With each feeding, new milk is made, and the amount of milk gets bigger quickly.

Even after a peridural (anesthesia from the waist down), a healthy baby can be put on right after birth. After a cesarean section with general anesthesia, breastfeeding is possible as soon as you feel strong enough to do so.

The mother's milk of the first days is called colostrum. The colostrum contains important protective substances that line the baby's intestine and protect it from diseases. Colostrum supports the immune system and contributes to a healthy intestinal flora. It is easily digestible and stimulates the newborn's bowel movements. In the first few days, you should feed your baby frequently so that he or she gets enough of the colostrum.

From the 2nd to 4th day, the breast usually produces the so-called transition milk. It is creamy and yellowish and feeds the baby until the end of the 2nd week. After that, the mature breast milk forms, which looks more whitish-bluish. This is the breast milk that does not change until the end of breastfeeding.

Despite all the advantages, every woman can decide for herself whether she wants to breastfeed or not. It requires good self-esteem, calm, perseverance, a willingness to be dependent for a limited time and a supportive environment. A quick return to work with a high time commitment can speak against breastfeeding for some women, but it does not have to.

If a mother does not want to breastfeed, she should discuss with her doctor in time how milk production can be suppressed. In the first 1 to 2 hours immediately after birth, docking and sucking the baby at the breast is nevertheless recommended in addition to skin-to-skin contact on the mother's stomach. This allows the baby to enjoy the valuable colostrum with its many immune substances, and the mother-child bond is thus optimally promoted without impairing the desired suppression of milk formation.