What Are the Proper Postures for Breastfeeding?

How breastfeeding works

Breastfeeding is a natural, biological process governed by your hormones and physiology, as well as your baby's own automatic instincts. However, in our society it is not always easy - some mothers are uncomfortable doing it in public while others may never have seen friends and relatives doing it. Many mothers and babies struggle with breastfeeding as a result, especially in the early weeks. Understanding how it works will help to make it easier.

Many women doubt their ability to sustain their babies purely on breast milk, but in fact your body has nurtured your baby throughout pregnancy amazingly well. After the birth, your breasts are designed to take over the role of the placenta in feeding and protecting your baby.

Your posture

As you will be in one place for quite some time, try to get comfortable before you begin. An upright chair might be useful, one that supports a straight back. If you are leaning back, for instance on a sofa or against bed pillows, your breasts flatten and it is harder for your baby to get a good mouthful (although some babies can manage like this - especially when they are older, stronger, and more used to breastfeeding). Some women can feed sitting cross-legged on a floor cushion.

You can also feed lying down. This is a useful position as you can have a doze during the day while you are feeding or you can feed your baby at night in your bed. (This position is also useful if you have had a caesarean as it ensures that your baby does not lie on your wound.) However, if you are likely to fall asleep when feeding make sure that it's a safe environment for your baby. Don't sleep on a couch or armchair with your baby as there is an increased risk of cot death, and if she is in your bed make sure she can't fall out or get covered by bedding.

Position of you and the baby

You need to hold your baby so that her body is turned towards your body (remember: "tummy to mummy"). Do not hold her in the position you would hold her in if you were bottle feeding. If you do, she will have to turn her head towards your breast and it will be difficult for her to swallow (try it and see). Once your baby is facing towards you her nose needs to be next to your nipple to begin with so that when she opens her mouth she will be reaching out a little to latch on. If you tuck her bottom in close and leave her neck and head relatively clear, you will find this allows her to extend her neck better.® Avoid holding the back of her head as this will force her chin down and most babies don't like it. Also, if her chin is too close to her chest it will be awkward for her to feed and swallow comfortably. The size of your breasts and the position of your nipples will affect how high up or down your body your baby lies.® For example, if you have smaller breasts you will be holding your baby higher up your body than if you have larger breasts.

Lying across the mum's tummy, as described above, is the most common position for a baby to lie in when breastfeeding. In this position you can support your baby's body using the arm on the sane side as the breast (supporting her with your left arm while she feeds from your left breast and vice versa) and support the back of her head somewhere on your forearm (not In the crook of your arm as this will constrict her neck and chin). Alternatively you can hold her with the arm opposite to the breast she's feeding from, supporting her shoulders and neck cradled in your hand. This position gives you quite a lot of freedom to move her body in relation to your breast ready for latching on.

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Once you have your baby attached to your breast, if you need to support your arm you can tuck a pillow or cushion under if .This then leaves the other hand free to hold a drink, a book, the phone, or television remote contrail You can also hold her under arm - this is a useful position after a caesarean because it keeps the baby away from the scar. Support her lying along your forearm, cradling her shoulders and neck in your hand. Her feet will extend out behind you so you'll need to sit quite far forward with cushions or pillows behind you. This can be a useful position if you are having problems at the beginning, as you can see what is happening. It is also useful for mothers with twins, if you feed both babies at once.

To position her when lying down, lie on your side and support your head and shoulders with pillows. It may help to have a pillow behind your back so that you have something to relax against. Your lower arm can extend out and round the top of your baby's head. Use your upper arm to position your baby and draw her onto your lower breast. Your baby should lie on her side, facing you, again so that she has to reach up for the breast. As is the same when sitting up, if you tuck her bottom in close and leave her neck and head relatively clear you will find this allows her to extend her neck better.

Attachment or "latching on"

The final part of the jigsaw is how your baby takes the breast, it is important that she has a good mouthful, with her chin making contact with your breast first. She will need to open her mouth really wide, which she will usually do instinctively. This is part of the rooting reflex, an automatic response that enables her to turn towards whatever is touching her mouth or cheek and then open her mouth. So when you see her rooting get ready, and as soon as she opens her mouth wide -gaping as if she were about to bite on an apple - draw her onto your breast.

Your nipple needs to go right back to make contact with your baby's soft palate - this is the smooth bit of the roof of the mouth. If your nipple is in contact with the hard palate - the ridge of bones at the front of the mouth - it will chaff and get sore. Stimulating the soft palate triggers the baby's feeding reflex.

Your baby's jaw then uses a chomping action, working with a rolling action of her tongue, to squeeze milk out of the breast. A good mouthful, with her chin in contact with your breast, is important as it allows the baby to reach the milk that lies behind the nipple and areola.

Your baby will show you that she has had enough milk from your breast by coming off it of her own accord, looking satisfied. Now is the time to offer her the second breast. This gives her the opportunity to have more milk if she is still hungry. Some mothers find that their baby often wants the second breast, others that their baby rarely wants it. It doesn't matter as long as your baby has the chance to have more if she wants it. Either way, start with the "second breast" the next time you feed, to balance out the milk supply.

Why breastfeed?

Breast milk is more than just nutrition; it is a living fluid that protects your baby from the world around her. It also stimulates her own immune system, which will take more than a year to fully develop - In the meantime she will receive copies of your own antibodies from your milk. Breast milk is also perfectly digestible, so even her nappies won't smell unpleasant!

Breastfeeding develops your baby's jaw in preparation for chewing and talking. The pauses and eye contact, as well as the interaction that takes place when you are breastfeeding, all prepare her for conversing later. Through your breast milk she will also be able faintly to taste the food you have eaten, thus preparing her to join her family at mealtimes as she will remember those tastes. Breastfed babies' teeth tend to be better aligned than bottle-fed babies', and as their palates are not distorted by anything hard, like a bottle, they may be less likely to snore as adults. Finally, breastfeeding is intimate and enjoyable, a way of bringing you closer together. What more could a baby want?