How Birth Practices Effects Breastfeeding Part 2
By juliejohnson | Category: The Journey of Motherhood
I have been a doula for over 9 years, including running a hospital based doula program at a county facility. There I saw everything from women shackled to the bed watched over by a prison guard 24/7, to teenage girls who insisted that they be back home before 6:00 AM the next day so their mothers wouldn’t know they had been gone. Since becoming a breastfeeding professional, I can look back and see how birth does indeed effect the breastfeeding outcome. Being a birth advocate I want the woman to have what ever she wants during her delivery. It is her choice. However, if she can labor for as long as possible at home, plan to have her labor un-medicated (easier said than done these days) and avoid routine inductions, her chances of having a complicated delivery decreases and she most likely will experience less breastfeeding difficulties.
The good news is almost all breastfeeding barriers work themselves out. In all situations, having a positive attitude goes along way. Furthermore, research states that having a doula (labor support professional) or just having another woman continually present in the room increases 30% a woman’s chance of breastfeeding 6 weeks postpartum. That sounds good to me.Please keep sharing your birth and breastfeeding experiences. We can learn so much from each other.
CAPPA’s Certified Lactation Educator and Trainer, International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, Lamaze childbirth educator, doula, momowner of Birth and Breastfeeding Solutions
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