Family Involvement in Breastfeeding
A woman who has a supportive environment and who receives assistance during the period of breastfeeding, can breastfeed more easily and for a longer time. Studies have shown that women are more likely to choose and succeed in breastfeeding if they have the support of their partner. In what ways can a partner and the family assist women during the nursing process?
There are many ways to take part in your partner’s successful nursing
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1Bring the baby closer
Bring the baby to the nursing mother.
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2Find the perfect spot
Help her find her preferred breastfeeding place in the house. Help her arrange pleasant and convenient surroundings with cushions or equipment that make her comfortable as much as possible. When outside the house, ask her what she needs and bring it to make her comfortable.
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3Limit visits
Restrict the number of visitors, especially during the initial period after returning home (obviously, according to the mother’s needs and wishes). Having multiple visitors while the mother needs to focus on nursing or allocate time for rest can disrupt the flow of her milk, hinder the successful establishment of nursing, and affect the overall mood of the mother.
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4Take care of her needs
Prepare and serve nutritional meals to the nursing mother, as well as any additional equipment she requires during breastfeeding (a telephone, a book, or a bottle of water).
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5Change diapers
Change the baby’s diaper before or after breastfeeding.
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6Take care of her wellbeing
Make sure the mother eats, sleeps, and rests. Sleep and nutritional foods are the factors that significantly affect milk production.
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7Encourage and support
Say encouraging words to the mother. Treat her nonjudgmentally and without pressure, offer to bottle-feed once in a while to make it easier for her, take the baby for a stroll between feedings so she can rest, and support her emotionally. All of this will show her she is not alone in this process and allow the supporting side to take an active part, which affects the successful establishment of nursing.
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8Take part
Other family members can also seek information from Tipat Halav (Family Health Centers) or another professional source to learn about the nursing process with the mother.
Supporting breastfeeding also benefits the supporting side
- Participating in breastfeeding assists in developing the bond between the father, or a mother who does not breastfeed, and the baby, in the first post-labor days.
- Helping and supporting the mother’s choice to breastfeed enables her partner to feel like an essential and meaningful part of the expanding family. Expressing interest in the challenges and making an effort to understand them creates a more substantial sense of shared responsibility.
This is how you assist your partner be a part of the nursing process
- Share your challenges, your needs, and the ways your partner can assist you. Allow your partner to feel needed, and to provide help.
- Remember that nursing greatly contributes to your bond with your new baby. Your partner has an opportunity to create this bond through other means, such as dressing, bathing, or changing a diaper. Even taking the baby from you for a burp in the middle or at the end of nursing can help the partner feel needed and helpful and alleviate the burden of caring for a new baby.
- Allow your partner to assist you in anything that is not nursing such as rinsing the breast pump and feeding with a bottle if you pump milk, storing and handling the pumped milk bags, and so on. Your partner can feel a part of the nourishing process, and you can make it easier for yourself.
For further information, contact the Tipat Halav (Family Health Center) in your area of residence (Hebrew) or the Tipat Halav call center at *5400.