Good News for reluctant mothers: breastfeeding can be easier

Good News for reluctant mothers: breastfeeding can be easier

There is good news for reluctant mothers. A new survey conducted by the U.S. Center for Disease Control and Prevention says American mothers can and would breastfeed better and longer if they were offered sufficient counseling and guidance on how to combat the most common complaints of the process.

Lead researcher Indu Ahluwalia, an epidemiologist at the CDC in the adult and community health department says the study confirms that more than to chance, breastfeeding should be left to proper and systematic support, if the trend has to be encouraged.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recently spruced up its pro-breastfeeding campaign, emphasizing the un-doubtable significance of the process in the psychological and physical development of babies. In extension, Ahluwalia's project covered over 32,000 American mothers spread across several states and replying to questions pertaining to breastfeeding experiences. The results thrown up indicate that only half of those surveyed breastfed for over four weeks, one-third never did, 13% did so for just 4 weeks and 4 % quit in one week.

The most commonplace reasons cited for premature quitting were painfully sore nipples, insufficient lactation or the infant inability to learn sucking properly or it being dissatisfied with breast milk alone.

Several socio-economic reasons surfaced as hampering the process; immature age of mother, lack of formal education, single status, low incomes and the pressing need to return to work, smoking habits and fears that the infant will suffer passive smoking or delivering babies with low birth weight.

The good news is that the obstacles mentioned can be overcome with some planning, advice, learning, guidance and persistence in the matter. If women received sufficient knowledge about the benefits and the actual process of breastfeeding, their resistance could be minimized or eliminated.

According to Ahluwalia, breastfeeding is not always instinctive and has to be learned sometimes, making matters worse Hence, the need for tremendous help from the environment. This is where the role of the health care expert comes in, wherein a dialogue is necessitated between the former and the mother, right from the prenatal phase to the post delivery part. The study suggests that doctors should continually communicate the needful throughout the pregnancy. Additionally experts on lactation should help mothers understand and cope with the physical changes which can often turn uncomfortable.

Persistence from the mother goes a long way to help, says Ahluwalia. Asking for help should be top priority.

Being prepared also helps. Mothers with the intention to breastfeed pre thought in their minds are more likely to implement that intent and continue for longer durations.

The benefits of breastfeeding are sufficiently established now, reinforced by the CDC study. The positives accrue on to both mother and infant. In the baby, breastfeeding offers natural antibodies which fight instances of ear and upper respiratory tract infections, lowers gastric problems and in some cases, even prevents death.

However, more importantly, if America's mothers have to be encouraged to breastfeed their infants, they perhaps need to understand that the process is a natural healer of their bodies post delivery, aiding loss of gained weight and reducing risks of some major cancers and type 2 in diabetes.