Breastfeeding

During pregnancy your breasts change as milk-storing and milk-producing tissue develop.

Breastmilk is made with the appropriate nutrients for your baby, in the appropriate quantities. The first breastmilk you produce is called colostrum. It’s made in pregnancy and for the first days after the birth of your baby. It varies in colour, but you may find it is thick and yellowish. Its constituents are important for the health of a very new baby.

Later on, the milk you produce will be greater in volume. The constituents of it are appropriate for your baby’s needs from shortly after birth to as long as you and your child wish to feed. Milk varies in its precise composition from mother to mother, and from feed to feed. For instance, the fat content of breastmilk changes according to the amount of milk in the breast – breasts that have a lot of milk at any one time will have milk that is proportionately lower in fat compared to breasts that have less milk in them at any one time. None of this means you need do anything except feed in response to the cues your baby gives you. That way, you will produce the milk your baby needs.

Milk is made in response to its removal from the breast, and this is why mothers of twins (or more) can make sufficient milk to nourish their babies – the more milk is removed, the more milk is made. It’s perfectly normal to feed from only one breast per feed, and equally normal to feed from both, and equally normal to use one breast at one feed and two at the next, and sometimes, to go from breast to breast and back again. Just follow your baby – and at first, it’s a good idea to always offer the second breast anyway. Start each feed with alternate breasts. As time goes on, this becomes something you don’t have to be too concerned about though. Your baby’s time at the breast will vary, and it’s never a good idea to look at the clock to time or schedule feeds.

The time your baby spends at the breast doesn’t correlate with the amount of milk he’s taking, and some babies get what they need in a very short time, whereas others take longer. Very few babies stick with the same pattern all the time, too. It’s normal for a new baby to feed many times day and night and to show by his behaviour he wants to stay close to or on the breast a lot. For many women and babies, breastfeeding is an important part of their relationship, and helps support closeness and communication between them. You can help get breastfeeding off to a good start by ensuring your baby is able to take a good mouthful of breast so he can use his tongue and jaw to suck and swallow effectively. If you find this difficult to do, or you are uncomfortable or in pain when your baby gets attached, ask for help.

It usually possible for an experienced person to help you amend the way your baby takes the breast so it doesn’t hurt. You can sit or lie in any way you prefer, as long as your baby can reach the breast comfortably, open his mouth wide, and take the nipple into the back of his mouth. Experiment, and you’ll find you can both manage different ways of achieving this attachment. If you are finding breastfeeding challenging or diffifcult, either physically or emotionally, then your midwife, health visitor or a breastfeeding counsellor may be able to help you. There may also be peer supporters in your area who can offer you social support and friendship and help you with some basic knowledge of breastfeeding. A breastfeeding counsellor with one of the voluntary organisations supporting breastfeeding is a mother experienced in breastfeeding and has had training to enable her to support and help mothers to breastfeed. This service is free. NCT has many breastfeeding counsellors all over the UK. (Please refer to our helplines for more information.)