It’s currently World Breastfeeding Week. This will be followed by Black Breastfeeding Week from August 25th – August 31st. Why do Black women need a week dedicated to breastfeeding? Well, Black women continue to have the lowest rates of breastfeeding initiation at 60%, continuation at 6 months coming in at 28% and 12 months at 13% compared with all other racial/ethnic groups in the United States. Racial disparities, lack of family/communal support, education on the importance of breastfeeding & lack of quality maternal/postpartum care all play a role in these statistics. Had I known what I know now, after 3 children, my experience would’ve been much easier to navigate from the start. Today, I’m sharing 6 things I wish I knew before choosing to breastfeed my children.
Skin To Skin + Latching Baby Right After Birth UNINTERRUPTED
The first hour after delivery is very crucial for both mom and baby. It’s known as the Sacred Hour. It is a special bonding time that begins when your baby is placed skin-to-skin on your chest right after he/she is born. Your heartbeat will naturally calm your baby, and he/she will smell your breast milk. Plan for doing skin-to-skin time with no interruptions until your baby finishes his/her first feeding. There is no set time duration to feed your baby. As my lactation consultant informed me, “you feed them until they’re done.”
The latching advice that helped me the most was this: take your breast, form the letter “c” with your thumb just above your nipple & remaining fingers cupping your breast. Place the nipple into baby’s mouth and wait for them to latch. This method helped avoid sore and cracked nipples with my daughter. I only wish I knew about it with my sons. It would’ve saved me a world of pain!
You can contact the hospital or birthing center you plan to deliver ahead of time to let them know of your intentions of latching and skin-to-skin, especially in the even of an emergency c-section. All 3 of my kids latched immediately & had skin-to-skin but the amount of time differed. Luc had about 2 hours before being whisked off to the nursery. Logan was uninterrupted for about 4.5 hours. By the time I had my daughter hospital policies had changed so I had her with me the entire time. We had minimal issues with feeding, my supply came in effortlessly & quickly + it was a much more peaceful breastfeeding journey.
Colostrum Is MORE Than Enough
Colostrum is the first stage of breast milk. It has a higher concentration of protein, fat-soluble vitamins, minerals, and immunoglobulins than mature breast milk. Colostrum also acts like a laxative that helps your baby pass his/her first poo, meconium. Colostrum is produced during pregnancy and lasts for several days after giving birth. The nurses explained that my milk wouldn’t be in until 3-5 days but that he was receiving colostrum from me instead.
I had just endured a 27 hour labor and delivered an almost 9lb baby. That is not counting the 16 hours I unknowingly labored at home with him. Dwayne and I were EXHAUSTED to say the least.
Luc’s cries became more frequent at night and we were drained (we would later find out that this was normal). Our night nurse said, “colostrum is not food. It has no nutrients and your son is very hungry because of his size, he’s a very big boy.” She kept pushing formula onto us saying we could get some sleep & our baby boy would be much better off. I reluctantly gave in but I couldn’t silent that little voice telling me not to do it. This was THE WORST decision because it turned out Luc had a severe dairy allergy. Top it off, because he was introduced to formula so early on it made it difficult once we got home for him to keep latching to nurse as intended.
My milk supply also decreased because I supplemented way too early. I talk more on supplementation below. So at 4.5 months, Luc rejected the breast entirely. I was devastated not because he was now on formula (dairy-free).
I was devastated because Luc and I were robbed of an experience that I was intentional in making happen from the minute I found out I was pregnant. I was not supported in the hospital at all in my breastfeeding journey, especially in those critical 1st hours of my son’s life. Looking back Luc was doing what babies do normally after birth. He was actually cluster feeding which brings me to my next point.
Cluster Feeding
Cluster feeding is when your baby feeds closer together at certain times of the day ( or evenings) and goes longer between feedings at other times. I learned out about cluster feeding right after delivering Logan, our 2nd born son. The nursing staff and lactation consultant gave me all the deets & immediately all of the light bulbs and bells went off in my head.
Luc would nurse every 45 minutes to 1 hour…for what felt like all night. He would nurse a few minutes, pull off, fuss/cry, nurse a few minutes, pull off, fuss/cry, repeat. Then all of a sudden he’d sleep for 4 hours straight come 6am. This was beyond frustrating. It got to the point that I started wondering if he was getting enough milk. I also started wondering if I ate something that was bothering him…hell if EVERYTHING I was doing was bothering him. If you have no knowledge of cluster feeding it can really ruin your confidence, particularly if there is someone else around questioning whether your milk supply is enough (your mom, your husband, your mother-in-law, etc). In our case, it was our night nurse.
We were experiencing & watching classic cluster feeding with Luc y’all! Cluster feeding and fussiness have NOTHING to do with your milk or milk supply. This behavior babies demonstrate is NORMAL and usually dissipates around 3/4 months of age.
Again mamas, cluster feeding doesn’t mean you are not producing enough milk and you have to give a bottle. Supplementing with a bottle, especially in the early weeks, will only cause you to decrease your supply. Your body will think you need less milk during those hours which will only make matters worse. By the time I had Logan and Sage I was fully prepared to breastfeed them as long as they wanted.
Pumping Too Early Can Cause An Oversupply
All women have an oversupply in the early weeks once their mature milk comes in. This is our body’s way of making sure our baby has enough to eat. Feeding on demand allows your milk to regulate to your baby’s needs so you’re not walking around engorged. Pumping during that regulation time can lead to an oversupply because your body interprets the pump as another mouth to feed, hence producing milk for both.
An oversupply can cause a host of issues for mom & baby. When experiencing an oversupply you run an increased risk of clogged ducts and an infection called mastitis. Babies can run into feeding issues from mom’s oversupply of milk as well. This initially caused a forceful letdown and choking during feedings. After learning how to hand express for relief versus pumping, my milk supply regulated and it was smooth sailing from there. Another tip I learned from Lactation Consultants was that babies only need an ounce of milk per hour you are away from them. So if you’re going to be away from your LO for 6 hours, you’ll only need to have 6oz of milk pumped for them. They more than likely won’t even finish what you pump/hand express out so this tends to be the best guage on how much to express while away.
Breastfed Babies Don’t Poop Everyday
This was another mind blowing concept but super helpful to know. Breastfed babies do not poop daily as formula-fed babies do. Why so? Breast milk has the perfect nutritional balance tailor made for your baby. So there’s very little waste produced from it, which translates to having fewer dirty diapers than a baby who is formula-fed.
How long can breastfed babies go without pooping? This can range anywhere from 7-14 days! Yup, so don’t fret if your breast fed baby hasn’t pooped in 3 or 4 days. Trust me, when it comes, you’ll know!
Newborns Grunt…They’re Not Constipated
On top of checking to see if our babies were breathing by holding a spoon up to their nose every 15 minutes…..(Dwayne…lol), newborn grunting was something we knew NOTHING about. When we would hear it with Luc, we immediately thought he was constipated. By the time we had Logan, we learned that this was NORMAL. They are brand new to the world and are learning their bodies and life outside of the cushy womb.
When your baby grunts, it usually means they’re learning how to have a bowel movement. Babies haven’t yet figured out how to relax the pelvic floor while also using abdominal pressure to move stool and gas through their system. The grunting often stops when the newborn learns to relax their pelvic floor and the stomach muscles strengthen. This usually happens at 3/4 months of age. No need for the suppositories and gripe water, they do more harm than good anyway. Just have patience as your baby adjusts to their bodies outside the womb. However, if you’re still super concerned, reach out to your baby’s pediatrician.
So here I am, almost 7 years later on my 3rd breastfeeding journey. It was full of ups and downs as you guys have read. I am grateful for it all because regardless of duration, I was able to provide each of my children with optimal nutrition from birth and create a powerful bonding experience for us all.
I hope this post eases some of the anxieties that can come with becoming a new mom along with deciding to breastfeed your baby. I, unfortunately, fell into the statistic that many Black mothers have experienced. Receiving adequate education and support around breastfeeding is essential for us to close the breastfeeding gap in our community. Some of the stigma is generational as many Black women were forced to breastfeed babies that weren’t their own. The joy is in the freedom to choose..period! It doesn’t matter which route you choose, EBF, exclusive pumping, bottle & breast, etc. An informed mom is the best mom.
Until next time,
-Healthy Hair To Toe
