………THAT OUR NIPPLES MAY NOT STARVE OUR BABIES
Breast milk is one of the best things that can happen to our babies, our baby not only gets all the wonderful benefits of breast milk they also get to bond with mummy . they can however be deprived of the benefits of breastmilk. There are conditions that can affect the nipples such as sore
nipples and breast engorgement. These conditions can be quite painful and prevent the mother from wanting to breastfeed further, mother not wanting to breastfeed equals a hungry baby. These conditions can however be treated and taken care of.
SORE NIPPLES
This is characterized by bleeding, blisters, cracks, edema and bruises. It is caused by the baby not latching appropriately to the breast. Most women tend to stop breastfeeding due to the pain. It is advisable to not stop breastfeeding as this can lead to engorgement of the breast which is another condition that can cause further pain. Ensure your baby latches well to the breast(i.e the mouth of the baby covers the areola of the breast and not just the nipple), also conditioning the breast after each feed is helpful, start breastfeeding with the nonaffected nipple and continue with the affected one and ensure that the baby latches appropriately so breastfeeding can be tolerated but if it is too painful ensure to express in order to prevent engorgement of the breast.
BREAST ENGORGEMENT
All lactating women experience a transitional fullness of the breast at first, initially because of venous congestion and later because of accumulating milk. However, this fullness lasts only 24 hours, the breast remains soft enough for the baby to suckle with no pain. The breast can be severely engorged , the breast would be hard, painful and warm , the breast may appear taut and shiny . engorgement may occur as a result of infrequent feedings , delayed initiation of feedings, use of supplements, time-limited feedings and too quickly removing the baby from the breast. Treatments for breast engorgement include warm compresses or showers for a short time just before nursing your baby, cold compress or cold bag of vegetables applied to breast after feedings, cabbage compress, breast massage or milk expression.
If you need help with latching meet your midwife to help or if you have access to a lactation consultant .These tips would help relieve pain during breastfeeding and prevent injuries to our nipples, that our nipples may not starve our babies.
photo source
Tesco baby club
living&loving.co.za
[…] my previous post HERE I talked about breast engorgement and the various ways of relieving it such as expressing and […]