World Breastfeeding Week 2017: How breastfeeding right after delivery helped a mother recover faster

This story tells us why it is important to breastfeed the child right after birth.

Anita Sharma (name changed) delivered her first child more than a decade ago through a C section. The surgery left her so weary and groggy that she had no energy left to rejoice the birth of her baby, let alone to sit upright and breastfeed. Lethargic and tired, she was unable to move or even hold the baby for long. The hospital where she delivered didn t have lactation experts or trained staffs to help her get started with breastfeeding right after birth. As a result, her baby was bottle fed with formula. Read to know why it is important to breastfeed babies right after birth to six months of age.

Anita s recovery was also not a smooth one. She developed post-surgery issues and started to bleed uncontrollably, her uterus refused to contract and shrink. A blood transfusion had to be done to prevent her from becoming anaemic due to severe blood loss. It took a while till she could settle post surgery and get a discharge from the hospital. Breastfeeding for the initial days was out of the question and her baby got accustomed to the bottle. Here is a step-by-step guide for new mums to settle with breastfeeding.

Challenges ahead

Back home when she tried to breastfeed her baby, he refused feeds due to nipple confusion. She kept trying to establish a breastfeeding routine for two months but failed in her attempts as the baby didn t latch-on properly. Anita gave up her earnest attempts and continued with formula. Her child grew to be obese and chubby, fell ill often, became lethargic and was inactive compared to kids of his age. Many times she and her husband thought of taking their child to a child psychiatrist too.

One reason why Anita was unable to breastfeed her boy was the excessive bleeding she suffered after delivery that kept her bed ridden. Little did she know that breastfeeding right after delivery not only helps to protect the baby from infections and diseases but also helps the mother s uterus to contract and control post delivery bleeding. To breastfeed successfully, women need practical help and support from all quarters, especially health care providers. This means, women need accurate information about optimal infant and young child feeding and appropriate counselling to protect, promote and support breastfeeding, says Ms Joyce Jayaseelan, Lactation Consultant at Fortis Hospitals Bannerghatta Road. Every year, over 1 million infants die and millions of others fall ill due to lack of adequate breastfeeding support.

This is why breast is best

Infants who are not breastfed have an increased risk of suffering from infectious morbidity, as well as childhood obesity, type 1 and type 2 diabetes, leukaemia, and sudden infant death syndrome or SIDS. For mothers, failure to breastfeed is associated with an increased incidence of premenopausal breast cancer, ovarian cancer, retained gestational weight gain, type 2 diabetes, myocardial infarction, and metabolic syndrome. Obstetricians are there to counsel mothers about the health impact of breastfeeding and to ensure that mothers and infants receive appropriate care right after birth, adds Joyce.

During her second pregnancy, after four years, Anita was more prepared to take on the challenges post delivery. She insisted the hospital staff allow her to breastfeed her baby girl and initiate a better mother-baby bonding right from the start. This helped her gain control over her body faster, stop post delivery bleeding, helped the baby overcome latching issues and get going with a smooth breastfeeding experience. Comparing her two kids after a decade, it was observed that the second child is healthier, does not fall sick often, more active as opposed to the first one. This case highlights the importance of breastfeeding which benefits the baby, mother and the family too, says Joyce.

Breast milk is the elixir of life

Many times in the hospital, the first feed given to the child is formula as the mother is unable to breastfeed for various reasons, like recovering from the surgery, blood loss, low milk supply, etc. The disadvantage of the formula is it lacks maternal infection-fighting antibodies that are there in breast milk. Also, no formula can exactly duplicate the ideal composition of breast milk. Supplementing breastfeeding with formula is usually discouraged, although it may be helpful in cases where the mother is sick or planning to get back to work within six months of the baby s birth.

Too much dependence on formula puts a baby at an increased risk of diarrhoea, respiratory infection, malnutrition due to an inappropriate amount of proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals. Formulas are also higher in salt content and lower in calcium that can lead to allergy, milk intolerance, chronic diseases, obesity, lower scores in IQ tests. Formula feeding is associated with adverse health outcomes for both mothers and infants.

The best thing that health care staff can do is to initiate breastfeeding right after the birth and help both the mother and baby benefit from it.

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