Breastfeeding special care babies
breastfeeding special care babies – What’s important …
Breastfeeding special care babies is different. There are some babies that require a special care nursery, including those that are pre term, unwell babies, or babies that are requiring lifesaving surgery. Special care nurseries encourage mums with breastfeeding. If your baby is to unwell to breastfeed, expressing milk is encouraged until your baby is strong enough to feed. It is so important to breastfeed babies, in fact, that many countries are setting up milk banks to provide breast milk for these babies in special care if their mothers are unable to express their milk.
Breastfeeding special care bubs – Expressing milk
When expressing, expressing every 3-4 hours will help establish your milk supply. At first, you may not express a lot of milk, but you will slowly start to increase your supply. The expressed milk will be given to your baby through a tube, a syringe or a cup. If your baby is unable to feed directly from your breast, you will also be encouraged to try skin to skin contact until your baby is well enough to feed directly from you.
Breastfeeding Special care babies – Tips
Once you are ready to start breastfeeding your baby, be patient and take your time. It may take some time to help your baby learn to feed, for example, your baby at first may only open their mouth and not latch on or suck. Try expressing a little milk onto your finger and touch your baby’s lips, this may help to encourage him/ her to latch on. Keep persisting a few times a day with this.
Breastfeeding Special care babies is a topic that has been well researched by the Australian breastfeeding association (ABA). Help is not far away – please contact the ABA for more information and support.