Breastfeeding is a natural and healthy way to feed babies and has many nutritional advantages. Difficulty with breastfeeding is a common problem for new moms though, so learn how to breastfeed in this video.
Cross cradle
Football hold
Side lying position
Belly-to-belly
Wide-open mouth
Stefany Mills is the owner of Touched by an Angle Childbirth Services. She is based out of Central Florida.
STEFANY MILLS: Hi, my name is Stefany Mills. I'm with Touched by An Angel Childbirth Services here in Central Florida. We are birth doula and postpartum doula services company. I'm here today to talk to you about how to breastfeed. It's very important when breastfeeding to remember that this is a natural experience and it's a wonderful bonding experience. However, it is a learning experience and it does require you as well as your baby to learn this. Important things to remember and to work on: There are three different positions that you can use: (1) is your cross-cradle position - notice the baby's head is not in the crook of my arm. The baby's head is on my forearm, (2) football hold - the baby is in this position on the same arm as the side of the breast that you are going to be using, (3) there is also the side-lying position - this is particularly good if you do end up with the C-section or for those really sleepy nights and it's literally exactly what it sounds like. You prop your baby on a pillow or on the bed depending on the size of your baby, your head goes behind your arm, and your baby latches on in that position. It's important to always remember that the baby's belly should be against your belly in any of these positions. The reason is you want to keep everything lined up, their ears, their shoulder, their hips. If not, when the baby's body moves, the head moves and if the baby is attached to your breast and its head moves that can be painful. Let's try to avoid pain in breastfeeding. Regarding latch, this is going to make a big difference to what you feel in breastfeeding and your comfort level. The baby's mouth should be opened very wide in like a yawn. The baby's mouth needs to be able to take in as much of your areola as possible; that's where your milk ducts are and that's what's going to stimulate your milk production. If your baby is belly to belly and the mouth is open very, very wide before they latch on, it's going to be a much more pleasant experience and it's going to be a better bonding experience for you. The only way to tell if your baby is gaining weight by getting the breast milk is by taking them to the doctor. However, you need to be aware that they are going to lose weight in the beginning. So, the way to know if your baby is getting enough breast milk is for them to gain their weight back to their birthweight by two weeks of age, also, if they're making wet diapers. Those are the only two ways to know. If you need to break your
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