Is chest/ breastfeeding worth it?
DEAR GENTLE DOULA,
I CAN’T DECIDE IF I WANT TO TRY BREASTFEEDING MY BABY OR IF I SHOULD JUST FEED HIM FORMULA INSTEAD. MY SISTER SAYS BREASTFEEDING IS TOO HARD, BUT I’VE HEARD THAT MY MILK IS GOOD FOR MY BABY—AND I WANT TO DO WHAT’S BEST FOR HIM. DOES IT REALLY MATTER? I COULD REALLY USE YOUR ADVICE!
UNDECIDED
Dear undecided,
I’m so glad you’re thinking of feeding your baby with your own milk. It’s one of the best gifts you can give him! Feeding a baby human milk is always a good goal—if you are able to—even if you start out not knowing how long you want to continue. Here are some thoughts that might help with your choice:
Human milk is so much more than food for your baby! It’s made up of incredible things like antibodies, HMOs (human milk oligosaccharides), stem cells, and more. It gives your baby the perfect nutrition—from newborn to toddler—and even adjusts from day to night, or with illness (if someone in your house gets a cold, for example). You can think of it as both food and medicine.
Your milk also protects a newborn’s immature digestive system and helps build their immune system. If your baby is premature, exclusively feeding him your milk lowers his risk of NEC (necrotizing enterocolitis). Plus, by protecting baby’s digestive system from harmful bacteria, human milk also lowers the risk of long-term diseases like asthma, type-2 diabetes and allergies. Human milk is amazing!
And, of course, you matter too. Feeding your baby has many health benefits for you. And, just like for your baby, the health benefits can last a lifetime. You have a lower risk of certain cancers, a lower risk of postpartum mood and anxiety disorders, and—even though the first days and weeks are often a lot—you might even get more sleep over the first year of your baby’s life.
Human milk is the best option for a baby, whenever possible. And, if you decide to breastfeed your little guy, you can prepare for success by learning what to expect.
read positive information from organizations like La Leche League
take a lactation class that is informative and supportive
spend time with friends who are breastfeeding their babies
find out what supports are available in your community for after baby is born—and plan to access them in the first few days
What if your story is different? Breastfeeding can be fraught with difficulty for many people. While human milk is the best option for little humans, it doesn’t always work out. What if you couldn’t feed your baby, even though you wanted to? What if you didn’t get the support you needed? What if you did everything you could, but your milk just didn’t come in? It’s important to remember (as in all of parenting) that our love for our child matters most. We will make decisions, we will encounter difficulties, we will try our best. And our loving best is all we can do.
So why not give it a try?! Sometimes, a breastfeeding journey is easy and instinctive. Baby latches well from the start, your milk supply is generous and you don’t experience any major problems. Other times, the journey can be a little rockier. Baby has trouble latching, you’re not sure if you have enough milk, or you experience soreness. But many people successfully feed their babies their milk—in all kinds of situations. Their story may change, they may feed for shorter (or longer) than they had planned to. But they try. And they show up. They ask for help if they need it. And I know you can do that, too.