Breastfeeding At the Hospital After Birth (Tips + Tricks!)
Guest Post From A Labor & Delivery Nurse With Over 20 Years Of Experience!
Hi, I’m Hilary, the nurse behind The Pregnancy Nurse, and the creator of The Online Prenatal Class for Couples. I’ve been a nurse since 1997 and have helped thousands of moms breastfeed right after giving birth.
Let’s talk about what you can expect breastfeeding at the hospital from your nurses and how they can help you breastfeed during those first few hours after giving birth…
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It’s a GREAT idea to take a simple and affordable breastfeeding class. Breastfeeding is something you need to LEARN to do. The Ultimate Breastfeeding Class is on-demand and perfect for new moms.
What To Do Right After Giving Birth
Put Baby To Breast
Studies have shown that putting baby to the breast soon after birth can help your milk come in better and ease the transition to breastfeeding. That being said -- if, for some reason, you’re unable to breastfeed in those first few hours it does NOT mean that your breastfeeding journey is a lost cause, so don’t worry about that.
Love On Your Baby
I also encourage mom to just love that baby in those first few minutes. So many work hard to get the baby on the breast immediately after birth when you’re still being inspected for any tears or issues. Just love that baby for the first few minutes. Once the doctor is done we can start the feeding work. :)
What To Expect:
The First Breastfeeding After Birth
Baby May Be Distracted
You might be expecting the baby to go to the breast and latch on without hesitation. But, wipe that imagery from your mind, my friend. The first breastfeeding sessions aren’t like that at all!
The baby has just gone through a pretty traumatic thing... they are working to breathe, taking in their new world, and just existing is a lot of effort for them. So, they may suck, and then stop and look around, or may not even latch on at all.
What To Do:
The First Breastfeeding After Birth
Lots of skin to skin so your body knows the baby is here.
Nipple Stimulation by any means (even if it’s just a baby cheek resting your your breasts)
Most importantly. Make sure you’re not stressing out.
Try to just go with the flow. The good news is that the nurses are keeping an eye on the baby and possibly even their blood sugars to make sure they’re getting the things they need.
How Will the Nursing Staff Help You Breastfeeding At The Hospital?
Nurses routinely do a few things to help you breastfeed...
They may or may not ask you before they do these things (because right after birth there’s a lot going on) and remember we’re just working to be as helpful as possible.
Knowing this stuff in advance (because it can be a lot) will help you really feel confident that what’s going on is very normal.
Keep in mind if you have a cesarean birth these items will likely happen in the PACU (where you go after surgery) and they may or may not happen depending on you and the baby’s condition.
Skin-to-Skin For The Win!
Most often we will open your gown when the baby is born so the baby can go straight skin to skin with you and your chest. This has lots of benefits:
Keeps baby warm -- one of the biggest concerns about newborns is that they don’t hold their own temperatures well. Being on your warm skin helps… it’s a built-in heater for them!
Aids in nipple stimulation -- That really helps your breasts know it’s time to turn on the milk!
Decreases your stress -- it helps you to touch and hold baby. Some women have the “shakes’ after baby (and putting the baby skin to skin almost always stops that).
Love -- A big part of the breastfeeding hormone cycle is the love you have for your baby. It’s so much easier to love them when they’re safe on your chest than in a warmer across the room. Just love that baby, it’s yours for good!
Touch Your Breasts
When you’re ready to attempt breastfeeding the nurse may touch your breasts. We almost always ask, but sometimes when you’re juggling a baby and an IV we just jump in. Things we may do:
Make a “breast sandwich” to help baby latch on a bit better.
Pinch your nipple to let some colostrum come out (hopefully they ask before this, and it can be a bIt uncomfortable, but it is only briefly done). This helps the baby taste that sweet liquid and reminds them to suck.
We may work on the baby's latch to pull their chin or lips into certain positions to assist.
Assist in Positioning
The nurse will work to move the baby into a good position for both of you. Often we use pillows to help with this. We may also reposition your arms or the angle of the bed as well to make this all easy as possible.
It’s important to remember the nurses really are just looking to make this as good and easy as possible. We’re also looking to promote your comfort at this time. There’s a lot we’re weighing. Of course, since you just had a baby we are also checking your bleeding to make sure all is going well with your uterus as well (and breastfeeding your baby can also help with bleeding issues as well).
If there’s anything that is going on that you find bothersome, please let the staff know! We can’t read your mind, and we really do want to make you very happy during this VERY happy time!
One other thing to keep in mind is that you will likely have one nurse for you, and one for the baby (that way if anything goes wrong the nurse can focus on just the one patient). In an hour or two you will have one nurse for the both of you, but initially you both need some focused care.
If you like this type of information about what to expect, join me in The Online Prenatal Class for Couples.
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