How Breastfeeding Works

Doing the best for your baby...

Your baby’s first years of growth are vital and has an enormous impact on your baby’s health in the future.

Your breast milk has all the nutrients your baby needs for the first 6 months of their life and beyond.  Exclusive breastfeeding guards your baby against infections and diseases, such as childhood lukemia,  as well as lowering the risks of allergies.

It helps you as a mum too. The longer you breastfeed, the more it reduces your chance of various illnesses later in life including both breast and ovarian cancer.

Formula milk is made from dehydrated cows milk and added bits and pieces.  It CANNOT contain the ingredients that helps guard your baby against infections as your milk does.  Only YOU can make that.

Your milk is tailor made for your baby, and every day that you feed your baby counts towards protecting both you and your baby’s health.  The longer you feed your baby the better it is for both of you. 

By feeding your baby you reduce the risk of your baby having:

• Ear infections
• Chest infections
• Diarrhoea and vomiting
• Constipation
• Obesity
• Developing eczema
• Fussy eating
• Diabetes

All these benefits help minimise your trips to the GP in the future!!!

Breastfeeding saves you time and money!!

No sterilising
No washing up bottles
No reheating
No waste
Formula feeding costs approximately £300 for 6 months.

Where to start...

Skin to skin contact is an essential beginning to breastfeeding.  Skin to skin contact has many benefits both immediately after birth and throughout your baby’s first year of life.

Straight from birth, skin to skin contact keeps your baby warm and calm.    It regulates your baby’s heartbeat and breathing and then stimulates your baby and the release of vital hormones enabling successful breastfeeding.  Apart from the science, it encourages the start of a close and everlasting bond between mother and baby.

Skin to skin contact should begin as soon after birth as possible.  Place your naked baby against your skin with a blanket over both of you to ensure that you both keep warm. Do this in a relaxed, unhurried manner so that both of you have time to recover from the birth and help the baby prepare to feed.

Skin to skin contact should not stop there though.  Skin to skin with both parents is beneficial to your baby and helps build a strong bond with each other, as well as being an excellent way to calm a fractious or tired baby.

How to feed your baby:

Are you sitting comfortably? 

Some feeds can last 5 minutes, some can last 45, so you being comfortable is very important.  Your baby will know if you are not happy with how you are positioned and if you are feeling in anyway awkward.

There are many ways to position your baby for feeding.  Tips to always remember are:

• Is your baby’s head and body in a straight line?

  If it is, then your baby will have no difficulty swallowing

• Is your baby close?

  Your baby should not need to reach for it’s feed. Take your baby to the breast rather than your breast to the baby.

• Always support your baby’s neck , shoulders and back.

  This will allow your baby room so that they can tilt their head back easily

• Place your nipple opposite your baby’s nose.

  This will ensure that your baby has to open it’s mouth wide, from underneath your nipple so that they are breastfeeding, not nipple feeding.

• Let your baby’s chin lead

  When a baby opens their mouth wide to feed, their chin touches your breast first as they tip their head back so that their tongue can reach as much of your breast as possible.

• Look at your nipples

  When your baby has attached, there should be much more of the darker skin (the areola) visible above your baby’s mouth than below.

• Look at your baby’s cheeks

  When your baby is attached and feeing well your baby’s cheeks will look full and rounded as they feed.