PREAPRED TO FEED

Thinking about breastfeeding? If a first-timer, you might be confused about where and how to start. M&B’s in-house panelist and gynecologist Dr Kiran Coelho tells you how being prepared can help you nurse your baby successfully

- Dr Kiran Coelho

Breastfeeding is by far the best and most natural way to feed your baby. Getting started on breastfeeding, though, can be a slightly intimidating, scary, and even painful process in those early days. Knowing how to prepare the breast for breastfeeding, both prior to delivery and in the early days of nursing will help you reduce or even prevent the pain of sore or cracked nipples and fatigue, ultimately make your nursing experience the most pleasant it can be.

Believe it or not, but your body has been preparing itself for breastfeeding right from the start of your pregnancy. Tingling nipples and tenderness, and your breasts getting bigger, are signs of this. The blood supply to your breasts increases during pregnancy, and your milk ducts and milk-producing cells develop with each pregnancy you go through. However, the size of your breasts before pregnancy, and how much they grow during pregnancy, don’t determine how much milk you’ll be able to produce for your baby. If you’re small-breasted, you’ll still be able to feed your baby all the milk he needs.

During the first couple of days, your body will make colostrum, the perfect first milk for your baby. It’s thick, golden and delivered in small quantities. About two to five days after birth, your milk comes in, and by around four to six weeks the breast milk production and feeding pattern are well established.