4 Important Tips for Breastfeeding Mothers (@PFMcIlveen)
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Transcript of 4 Important Tips for Breastfeeding Mothers (@PFMcIlveen)
When breastfeeding your child there are a numberof hygienic precautions to be mindful of.
Stay Hygienic
When expressing milk, make sure that you're hands are clean.When collecting milk, aim to use hard storage containers withairtight seals over plastic bags or or formula bottle bags, as thosecan more easily open up or spill.When storing breastmilk or giving breastmilk to a childcareprovider, make sure that that the milk is labeled with the child'sname and the date. This will prevent any accidental switches,while making sure that you are using the oldest milk first.
Stay HygienicWhen bottle-feeding, avoid mixing. This goes for adding fresh milk tofrozen milk (vice-versa) and saving used milk for another feeding.Once a bottle has been used for a feeding, it's best to switch to anew bottle for a future feeding.When collecting milk, aim to use hardstorage containers with airtight seals over plastic bags or or formulabottle bags, as those can more easily open up or spill.When it comes to thawing out frozen breast milk, avoid microwavesand ovens (as they tend not to heat liquids evenly and can damagethe nutrient quality of the milk). Instead, either transfer the breastmilkto a refrigerator to gradually thaw or try swirling it through a bowlof warm water (making sure that it's not too hot!) for a more rapidthawing. Make sure that you don't refreeze milk once it's alreadybeen thawed.
Although the chances may be slim that this willhappen, it's important to watch out for. If your childaccidentally accidentally is fed the milk of another
mother, she runs the risk of being exposed toinfectious diseases, including the likes of HIV. If aswitch-up does occur, reach out to the expressing
mother responsible.
Watch out for BreastMilk Switch-ups
Breastfeeding is a great, natural way to provide infantswith most (if not all) of the essential nutrients and
immune factors that they need, however, in many casesbreastfeeding does not always supply the requisite
amount of Vitamin D that a child needs. Although mostinfants are able to synthesize Vitamin D via sun
exposure, recent studies indicate that some infants maystill succumb to a Vitamin D deficiency.
Consider Vitamin DSupplementation
In rare cases, a Vitamin D efficiency can lead to Ricketts.As human breast milk typically contains Vitamin D
concentrations of 25 IU per liter and the dailyrecommended concentration of Vitamin D for infants is400 IU per day, it's recommended that nursing motherspick up supplements. These come in over-the-counter and
prescription varieties.
Consider Vitamin DSupplementation
Get VaccicnatedOne of the best ways to prevent disease in an infant, is
by making sure that you have certain vaccines. It isrecommended that pregnant mothers are vaccinatedfor Whooping Cough, Hepatitis B, and the Flu. If youdo not already have these vaccines, the ideal time to
receive these when pregnant will vary. For moreinformation on vaccines, check the CDC's vaccination
list. As with all of the above, make sure that you checkwith your physician.
As always, make sure toconsult with your physician.
For more advice on takingcontrol of your health, visitDr. Dr. Peter McIlveen'sOB/GYN Blog here!