
ATIVESITE | Breastfeeding Looks Different for Everyone | Cincinnati Children’s
https://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/service/c/breastfeeding
Breastfeeding looks different for every mom because nowadays, moms have many different circumstances that lead them to have either unique situations in how they may be able to breastfeed or provide their milk and not breastfeed directly, but be able to pump their milk and provide their milk in other ways.
Well, if I’m in the NICU, I’m caring for very small, tiny immature babies that are very vulnerable and can’t directly breastfeed. So breastfeeding to them means receiving their mother’s milk in a tube, or it means receiving a swab of their mother’s milk in their cheeks. We call that colostrum for oral care.
I’ve gotten to help adoptive moms breastfeed their babies with supplementary devices. I’ve gotten to help moms with babies with congenital anomalies breastfeed, even if they feed their milk through a feeding tube. I’ve been able to help police officers come off the beat and continue pumping their milk at the precinct.
For me, the choice to breastfeed is really about making an investment in my child’s future health, their digestive health, their metabolic health, and doing whatever I can to reduce the risk of any long-term adverse health outcomes.
African American mothers report that the biggest factor in their decision to breastfeed is family support. And we know that for African Americans, there is a mixture of history and culture and traditions that helps them make that decision. Understanding that will help us to develop ways to counsel them and encourage them and help them to be comfortable with breastfeeding and to be more accepting of breastfeeding.
So for me, it was just pumping. My son didn’t get to latch, so I know some women experience like when the baby latched, they feel like the baby isn’t getting enough milk. Well, when I pumped, I was able to see how much milk my baby was getting. So that’s how the experience was for me.
I have helped moms with low supply, high supply, nipple and breast problems, medical conditions of moms and babies, all sorts of situations, and all trying to help them reach their breastfeeding goals.
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