A HANDBOOK FOR BREASTFEEDING AND RELACTATION: BREAST FEEDING FOR NURSING STUDENTS

Breastfeeding may look like something that’s easy and natural to do, but for a lot of women it can be harder than they ever imagined. Even if we’ve seen friends, sisters and even strangers breastfeed their babies, all of us have different nursing experiences and each of us have our own struggles that we have to learn and overcome. There are so many things that can cause breastfeeding to be extra difficult. For example, tongue-tie, lip-tie, acid reflux, low milk supply, over supply, cluster feedings, and so much more. The best thing that we can do to increase our changes of having a successful breastfeeding experience is to educate ourselves. Breastfeeding, also known as nursing, is the feeding of babies and young children with milk from a woman's breast. Health professionals recommend that breastfeeding begin within the first hour of a baby's life and continue as often and as much as the baby wants. During the first few weeks of life babies may nurse roughly every two to three hours, and the duration of a feeding is usually ten to fifteen minutes on each breast. Older children feed less often. Mothers may pump milk so that it can be used later when breastfeeding is not possible. Breastfeeding has a number of benefits to both mother and baby, which infant formula lacks. Read more