There are plenty of books and articles available giving many reasons why you should breast-feed your baby.
However, it is not necessarily true that every mother wants to breast-feed her baby. I am writing this especially for those who for personal, rather than medical, reasons are unsure about or perhaps against breast-feeding.
Some suggestions
- Attend antenatal classes, read about how you would go about breast-feeding in the first few days.
- Share your feelings/fears with your spouse.
- Let your doctor know how you feel.
- Talk to friends and family who have had positive rather than negative experiences.
- Choose a hospital with a breast-feeding policy that you are comfortable with.
- If you feel that perhaps you could give it a try, don't set a time limit for yourself, like three days or three weeks - keep an open mind.
- Colostrum (the first milk) that your baby gets in the first 3 to 5 days is the most precious.
- 5ml of colostrum is equivalent, in nutritive and immunity value, to 30ml of mature breast-milk.
- Colostrum lines the gut, protecting the baby from potential allergens, for example cows-milk protein.
- Colostrum is particularly rich in antigens that protect your baby against gastric, respiratory as well as many other viral and bacterial infections.
- It has a laxative affect that helps clear the gut of the sticky tar-like substance, meconium.
- Colostrum also breaks down the mucus that often interferes with a young baby's breathing.
- Find someone with experience to help you through the tough times.
- Don't listen to advice you haven't asked for, rather focus on the person of your choice's advice.
- Don't give up when unexpected problems arise.
- Make informed choices, not emotional ones.
- Should you need to go back to work, you could still choose to fully or partially breast-feed when working or you might prefer to wean your baby before returning to work.
- However, at the end of the day a happy mother, who is feeding her baby the way she really wants to, is what is best for her and her baby.
- Do what is right for you and your baby but when you make your decision, be sure that it is an informed one. - Purity