THE MYTH OF BREASTFEEDING
1. Women with flat or inverted nipples cannot breastfeed.
Not true! Babies do not breastfeed on nipples, they breastfeed on the
breast. Though it may be easier for a baby to latch on to a breast with
a prominent nipple, it is not necessary for nipples to stick out. A
proper start will usually prevent problems and mothers with any shaped
nipples can breastfeed perfectly adequately. In the past, a nipple
shield was frequently suggested to get the baby to take the breast.
This gadget should not be used, especially in the first few days!
Though it may seem a solution, its use can result in poor feeding and
severe weight loss, and makes it even more difficult to get the baby to
take the breast. (See handout #8 Finger Feeding). If the baby does not
take the breast at first, with proper help, he will often take the
breast later. Breasts also change in the first few weeks, and as long
as the mother maintains a good milk supply, the baby will usually latch
on by 8 weeks of age no matter what, but get help and the baby may
latch on before. See handout #26 When a Baby Refuses to Latch On.
2. A woman who becomes
pregnant must stop breastfeeding.
Not true! If the mother and child desire, breastfeeding can continue.
Some continue nursing the older child even after delivery of the new
baby. Many women do decide to stop nursing when they become pregnant
because their nipples are sore, or for other reasons, but there is no
rush or medical necessity to do so. In fact, there are often good
reasons to continue. The milk supply will likely decrease during
pregnancy, but if the baby is taking other foods, this is not a usually
a problem. However, some babies will stop breastfeeding if the milk
supply is low.
3. A baby with diarrhea
should not breastfeed.
Not true! The best treatment for a gut infection (gastroenteritis) is
breastfeeding. Furthermore, it is very unusual for the baby to require
fluids other than breastmilk. If lactose intolerance is a problem, the
baby can receive lactase drops, available without prescription, just
before or after the feeding, but this is rarely necessary in
breastfeeding babies. Get information on its use from the clinic. In
any case, lactose intolerance due to gastroenteritis will disappear
with time. Lactose free formula is not better than breastfeeding.
Breastfeeding is better than any formula.
4. Babies will stay on
the breast for 2 hours because they like to suck.
Not true! Babies need and like to suck, but how much do they need? Most
babies who stay at the breast for such a long time are probably hungry,
even though they may be gaining well. Being on the breast is not the
same as drinking at the breast. Latching the baby better onto the
breast allows the baby to nurse more effectively, and thus spend more
time actually drinking. You can also help the baby to drink more by
expressing milk into his mouth when he is no longer swallows on his own
(See handout #15 Breast Compression). Babies younger than 5-6 weeks
often fall asleep at the breast because the flow of milk is slow, not
necessarily because they have had enough to eat. See videos at
www.thebirthden.com/Newman.html
5. Babies need to know
how to take a bottle. Therefore a bottle should always be introduced
before the baby refuses to take one.
Not true! Though many mothers decide to introduce a bottle for various
reasons, there is no reason a baby must learn how to use one. Indeed,
there is no great advantage in a baby's taking a bottle. Since Canadian
women are supposed to receive 52 weeks maternity leave, the baby can
start eating solids around 6 months, well before the mother goes back
to her outside work. The baby can even take fluids or solids that are
quite liquid off a spoon. At about 6 months of age, the baby can start
learning how to drink from a cup, and though it may take several weeks
for him to learn to use it efficiently, he will learn. If the mother is
going to introduce a bottle, it is better she wait until the baby has
been nursing well for 4-6 weeks, and then give it only occasionally.
Sometimes, however, babies who take the bottle well at 6 weeks, refuse
it at 3 or 4 months even if they have been getting bottles regularly
(smart babies). Do not worry, and proceed as above with solids and
spoon. Giving a bottle when breastfeeding is not going well is not a
good idea and usually makes the breastfeeding even more difficult. For
your sake and the baby's do not try to "starve the baby into
submission". Get help.
6. If a mother has
surgery, she has to wait a day before restarting nursing.
Not true! The mother can breastfeed immediately after surgery, as soon
as she is awake and up to it. Neither the medications used during
anaesthesia, nor pain medications nor antibiotics used after surgery
require the mother to interrupt breastfeeding, except under exceptional
circumstances. Enlightened hospitals will accommodate breastfeeding
mothers and babies when either the mother or the baby needs to be
admitted to the hospital, so that breastfeeding can continue. Many
rules that restrict breastfeeding are more for the convenience of staff
than for the benefit of mothers and babies.
7. Breastfeeding twins is
too difficult to manage.
Not true! Breastfeeding twins is easier than bottle feeding twins, if
breastfeeding is going well. This is why it is so important that a
special effort should be made to get breastfeeding started right when
the mother has had twins (See handouts #1 Breastfeeding—Starting Out
Right and #1a The Importance of Skin to Skin Contact). Some women have
breastfed triplets exclusively. This obviously takes a lot of work and
time, but twins and triplets take a lot of work and time no matter how
the infants are fed.
8. Women whose breasts do
not enlarge or enlarge only a little during pregnancy, will not produce
enough milk.
Not true! There are a very few women who cannot produce enough milk
(though they can continue to breastfeed by supplementing with a
lactation aid). Some of these women say that their breasts did not
enlarge during pregnancy. However, the vast majority of women whose
breasts do not seem to enlarge during pregnancy produce more than
enough milk.
9. A mother whose breasts
do not seem full has little milk in the breast.
Not true! Breasts do not have to feel full to produce plenty of milk.
It is normal that a breastfeeding woman's breasts feel less full as her
body adjusts to her baby's milk intake. This can happen suddenly and
may occur as early as two weeks after birth or even earlier. The breast
is never "empty" and also produces milk as the baby nurses. Is the baby
getting milk from the breast? That’s what’s important, not how full the
breast feels. See videos at www.thebirthden.com/Newman.html
10. Breastfeeding in
public is not decent.
Not true! It is the humiliation and harassment of mothers who are
nursing their babies that is not decent. Women who are trying to do the
best for their babies should not be forced by other people's hang-ups
or lack of understanding to stay home or feed their babies in public
washrooms. Those who are offended need only avert their eyes. Children
will not be damaged psychologically by seeing a woman breastfeeding. On
the contrary, they might learn something important, beautiful and
fascinating. They might even learn that breasts are not only for
selling beer. Other women who have left their babies at home to be
bottle fed when they went out might be encouraged to bring the baby
with them the next time.
11. Breastfeeding a child
until 3 or 4 years of age is abnormal and bad for the child, causing an
overdependent relationship between mother and child.
Not true! Breastfeeding for 2-4 years was the rule in most cultures
since the beginning of human time on this planet. Only in the last 100
years or so has breastfeeding been seen as something to be limited.
Children nursed into the third year are not overly dependent. On the
contrary, they tend to be very secure and thus more independent. They
themselves will make the step to stop breastfeeding (with gentle
encouragement from the mother), and thus will be secure in their
accomplishment.
12. If the baby is off
the breast for a few days (weeks), the mother should not restart
breastfeeding because the milk sours.
Not true! The milk is as good as it ever was. Breastmilk in the breast
is not milk or formula in a bottle.
13. After exercise a
mother should not breastfeed.
Not true! There is absolutely no reason why a mother would not be able
to breastfeed after exercising. The study that purported to show that
babies were fussy feeding after mother exercising was poorly done and
contradicts the everyday experience of millions of mothers.
14. A breastfeeding
mother cannot get a permanent or dye her hair.
Not true! I have no idea where this comes from.
15. Breastfeeding is
blamed for everything.
True! Family, health professionals, neighbors, friends and taxi drivers
will blame breastfeeding if the mother is tired, nervous, weepy, sick,
has pain in her knees, has difficulty sleeping, is always sleepy, feels
dizzy, is anemic, has a relapse of her arthritis (migraines, or any
chronic problem) complains of hair loss, change of vision, ringing in
the ears or itchy skin. Breastfeeding will be blamed as the cause of
marriage problems and the other children acting up. Breastfeeding is to
blame when the mortgage rates go up and the economy is faltering. And
whenever there is something that does not fit the "picture book" life,
the mother will be advised by everyone that it will be better if she
stops breastfeeding.
Questions? see my
book Dr. Jack Newman's Guide to Breastfeeding (called
The Ultimate Breastfeeding Book of Answers
in the USA) HOME ARCHIVES
