2023-08-22 14:00:30
The immaturity of the newborn is felt in particular by his feeding method. Nutrients were continuously available in the amniotic fluid and blood supplied by the placenta, and the stomach was not ready to function like an adult’s. It is small and its sphincters do not play their role perfectly, while the body constantly demands various nutrients, just as it received them before. Food intake should be frequent, not always regular, depending on the child’s needs and peaks in development.. This variability is perfectly taken care of by breastfeeding on demand.
Breast milk contains thousands of bioactive molecules that protect and participate in the baby’s development. Its composition constantly adapts to the infant, depending on the time of day, and even at the start and end of feeding, thanks to a biochemical exchange system via saliva, among other things. This will also satisfy other types of food, emotional, immune, etc., as my colleague summarizes specialist in perinatal care, Lola Marin-Blondel : « The infant is not just a digestive tract to fill. »
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Breastfeeding: our advice to ensure it goes well
Choosing the bottle
In addition to being irrefutably the perfect way of eating, well-conducted breastfeeding is one of the best opportunities to operate the transnatal sensory continuum. However, each woman is free to use it or to give it up; her choice is necessarily the best for her and the quality of the bond with her baby. Proximal mothering and bottle feeding remain compatible. Several food alternatives exist, although they all have advantages and disadvantages.
Breastfeed, be closer to life
Breast milk is produced continuously and regulated by hormones (prolactin and oxytocin) secreted when nipple suction is effective, and stored in small quantities in the alveoli until feeding. This is facilitated by a serene environment, the presence of your baby and “skin to skin” (not just an hour with the dad: regular contact with the mom without the “barrier” of birth clothes). Breastfeeding is logically possible, “easy” and painless (the billions of women who perpetuated the species did not say to themselves “I hope I can breastfeed”). Otherwise, specialists exist to advise (IBCLC consultants – breastfeeding specialists –, Leche League branch). The baby’s position at the breast remains the most effective prevention once morest pain and cracks. There is a “java night” following birth, due to the baby’s transitory frustration, which is calmed by putting him to the breast as much as possible, which encourages the “flow of milk” at a time when milk levels Maternal hormones are falling. A lack of knowledge of the physiology of breastfeeding leads to offer the bottle thinking that the child cannot breastfeed, even though he has not yet developed a preference for the breast. His strong sucking capacity makes him swallow the bottle, with an easier flow, confirming the belief that he was hungry or that the mother did not have enough milk: this is often the start of “failed” breastfeeding. Particular vigilance, however, for certain maternal pathologies (hypothyroidism), difficult births and too short tongue ties, which can compromise the quality of sucking. The support of a small community organized around the mother is essential.
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Treat mastitis naturally
At the first signs of breast engorgement, Baby suction is the best remedy for unblocking a milk duct. Other gestures: support of blood and lymphatic circulation (brushing, circulatory plants), reduction of inflammation (clay or cabbage leaf poultices), vibrations (electric toothbrush), glass of water technique (application of a glass of hot water as a suction cup to the breast), bromelain (excluding meals), meadowsweet (pain), and if necessary antibacterial aromatherapy.
Breastfeeding, a committed act?
A so-called differentialist feminism does not deny the differences between men and women but values the strengths of each. Where some need to share maternal functions related to feeding their baby, others claim the presence of a clear difference in their intrinsic capacities.A way of asserting control over their own body, which calls into question medical power, allows the emancipation of the consumerist model for the baby’s food choice, the reappropriation of the image of the breast by opposing the primary vision of a sexual objectthe scheduling of productive activities to adapt to the realities of mothering, the encouragement of the solidarity of one’s tribe where everyone has a role to play, not necessarily through the relay of the bottle.
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