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Gina DiPietro 0:00
One of the most common anxieties of early motherhood is navigating the everyday difficulties of breastfeeding. Whether you're family planning or expanding your family, our experts are here to help. I'm Gina DiPietro, your host for Latch On: A Novant Health podcast series featuring breastfeeding content for women at all stages of their journey in motherhood. Novant Health is a Baby Friendly USA hospital where we consider breastfeeding to be the norm. Learn all about the benefits of breastfeeding both for mom and baby, skin-to-skin contact, how to pick up on hunger cues and navigate your postpartum experience, plus other expert advice. Stay tuned.

Gina DiPietro 0:43
I'm here with Danette Anderson, a lactation consultant at Novant Health Pediatrics Symphony Park in Charlotte. She has more than 10 years of experience in this industry. And she'll be weighing in on the risks and impact on the baby from feeding anything other than breast milk. Thanks for joining us, Danette.

Danette Anderson 1:02
Hi. Thank you, Gina. Thanks for having me. I appreciate it.

Gina DiPietro 1:05
So what are you able to tell us about this topic? What would be the implications of feeding an infant something other than breast milk?

Danette Anderson 1:13
First, I'd like to start off by saying that each mother's breastfeeding journey can look different from the other. I've worked with patients, like you said for over 10 years in lactation and a lot of moms have come to me. And they have told me that they had more anxiety about breastfeeding than they did about labor and delivery. So that was a really big eye opener for me, you know, seeing about how worried these moms are. Because for some moms, you know, breastfeeding, it comes very natural, and there's little to no issues. And then for other moms, it can be very challenging, which can be, you know, emotionally and physically draining. So I think it's important to recognize every mom who's breastfed whether it's been for one day or for one year. And so with that being said, I would like to first talk about some of the benefits of providing breast milk to the infant. And we know that breast milk is abundant in nutrients and antibodies, so it's going to help protect baby from certain bacterias that can cause viruses and infections, it can reduce the risk of ear infections, respiratory infections, intestinal disease, SIDS, asthma, allergies, diabetes, certain childhood cancers like leukemia, and obesity. So as you can see all of these benefits, that's why it's recommended to feed baby's breast milk because it's very healthy for them. Unfortunately, there are times that we do have to supplement with formula, whether it be a medical indication, or some moms choose to do it for other reasons. So some of those medical indications would be an infant has lost too much weight. And so whenever we think about that in the hospital, you know where the weights are being checked daily. And if we see that that baby's losing too much weight or they're not having enough urine or so output, and then that nurse practitioner may put an order in to start supplementing if the mom's milk hasn't come in yet. We also may supplement with formula if the baby has low blood sugar and it cannot be stabilized by breastfeeding alone. The baby's breastfeeding poorly, we would once again mom's milk is not in, that order maybe placed to supplement. A lot of these can be seen in both inpatient and outpatient setting. And so you know, there are things that we can do as lactation consultants to help mom during this time. What we would do to help protect her milk supply and establish that is to initiate pumping. Because if a baby's breastfeeding poorly for example, baby who has jaundice, they're sleepieror at the breast, so they don't really feed that well. And so we may have to start supplementing with formula and that baby may go under light therapy, and the baby's not feeding well. So we want to get pumping initiated to make sure that mom is getting frequent stimulation to her breast to help establish and maintain that milk supply until we know that baby's breastfeeding efficiently. There are other reasons that you know some moms choose or parents choose to supplement with formula for various reasons. You know, mom may want help from her partner and she feels like it's all on her the responsibility is on her. But she doesn't want to pump she would maybe like to put the baby to the breast and the other some feedings the partner gives the formula or vice versa. She may just want to pump only and have her partner get formula. So there are many reasons why supplementation may be required or chosen. And so we know that early introduction of bottles can impact breastfeeding and the reason for that is because when you give a baby a bottle, it's very easy for them. The flow is constant, it's easy for the baby to get the milk from the bottle. And in the early days whenever before mom's milk comes in, and the colostrum for some women, it's lower in volume. And so the baby has to work a little bit harder. So the baby may become lazy at the breast and not really feed that well, or start to get a little bit frustrated at the breast because they've gotten now used to that bottle of it's easy, and so they may get frustrated and not feed well. So as lactation, what we would do is we would initiate pumping, whether that be in the hospital setting, or outpatient setting, we're going to set up a pump for mom, we're going to start her pumping and put her on a feeding plan to make sure she's getting that adequate stimulation she needs to establish a good milk supply for her baby.

Gina DiPietro 5:52
One of the implications of feeding a child something other than breast milk, it could also reduce mom's milk supply, is that correct?

Danette Anderson 6:01
That is correct. So and that's why we would initiate pumping. Because if you have a baby that is being fed formula, for the reasons that we discussed, and is not feeding well at the breast, then yes, that can impact her milk coming in. And it can also impact her maintaining that milk supply. It's important for mom have frequent stimulation at the breast, whether that be by baby or by the pump, at least eight times in a 24 hour period. If the baby's not doing that, then we would want the pump to do that to get her milk supply established.

Gina DiPietro 6:35
Who can a mom talk to to get her options prior to making a final decision about breastfeeding? It's my understanding that women tend to make these decisions pretty early on in their pregnancy and so I'm curious what resources might be available for them to kind of talk through some of this information.

Danette Anderson 6:53
Definitely, we would recommend them to speak with their OBGYN. And so they're going to have several appointments with them throughout their pregnancy so their doctors are there to support them. They're also going to schedule an appointment with their pediatrician. And so they're going to meet the pediatrician prior to the baby being born to decide what office they want to go to who they want their primary care physician to be. And they can speak with them about the benefits of breastfeeding. Of course, they're going to speak with family and friends and you know, get some opinions from there. And then we also encourage them to attend a breastfeeding class that Novant Health has prenatal breastfeeding classes to attend so they can learn information from there. And then of course, calling a lactation consultant and speaking with them, whether that be at their pediatricians office or through the hospital. Novant Health has outpatient breastfeeding support as well as inpatient breastfeeding support so they can be with a lactation consultant over the phone or do a virtual visit with her. And then just you know, gather as much information is she can to make an informed decision.

Gina DiPietro 8:09
Great! Well Danette, thank you so much.

Danette Anderson 8:10
You're welcome.

Gina DiPietro 8:10
Thank you for listening to this episode of Latch On, a breastfeeding podcast series under Novant Health Healthy Headlines. Find lots of other episodes under the Healthy Headlines channel ... everything from flu season to COVID-19, mental health advice and other great resources to keep you and your family healthy. We're on Apple, Google, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts. I'm Gina DiPietro, your host, and we hope to see you back here real soon.