Week 39: Ante-natal continues
Week 3 of 4 on the ante-natal classes and what’s been in store this week?
The first two weeks covered the delicate subject of labour, this week is the World Health Organisation endorsed lecture on breastfeeding.
What did we expect?
- A Nazi style directive of you will breastfeed otherwise you will be damned.
- It’s natures way…….
What did we learn?
- That breastfeeding is literally that. The baby takes a huge mouthful of breast, between 3-4 cms. If the nipple doesn’t touch the soft palette then that’s where the problems start!
- A newborn’s stomach is only the size of a walnut. Which is why the little blighters need to feed every 3-4 hours. Basically, if the mother manages to get dressed or showered in the first few days they’re bloody lucky. Oh yes, and it the baby goes beyond six hours without a feed it is important to wake them (yes, you read correctly) up!!
- Breastfeeding is a learned rather that natural activity for Mum’s today. It will take at least two weeks for the process to become automatic and easy. Oh yes, it can bloody hurt! The hormones that are released during breastfeeding can also induce uterine contractions which for some Mums can be more painful that labour itself. Remind me to stock up on paracetamol and ibruprofen.
What was informative?
- Learning how to hold a baby, okay a doll, in the rugby ball position i.e. tucked under one arm? This was easier than I expected but somehow I think it will be more tricky with a real baby rather than an inanimate object.
- Hearing the 2nd and 3rd time mum’s talking about their experiences. Most useful advice – to stock up on savoy cabbage to soothe engorged breasts, always have a drink to hand, and to wake your partner to bring the baby to you so they know how is feels to be sleep deprived!
What was a waste of time?
- The two videos. The first with a patronising American narrator showing that a baby will automatically seek out the breast around an hour after being born if there is no interference. The second, this time with a droning Aussie narrator, telling everyone that breastfeeding should ‘feel 100% pleasant and comfortable’ otherwise you’re doing it wrong.
What was missing?
- The fathers-to-be. The couple of fathers have turned up in the previous weeks were noticeably absent. At least Lee had a good excuse of work commitments, the other father just wasn’t interested!!
Comments
Work commitments? Errm, was that the excuse?
I'm not looking forward to being woken in the middle of the night on a school night, "just so I know how it feels".
Posted by: Lee ? | August 16, 2006 3:31 PM
When Fiona (our second) was born, Abi operated on "baby time" for the first few weeks: she slept and woke with Fiona. By working with the baby, and not trying to keep a "normal" day, Abi found it much easier to actually get a certain amount of sleep during that time. (Note that "a certain amount" does not equate to "enough".)
Once you get past that period, and if you can express a little extra milk with each feed, you can freeze it! This means that the dad can take over some of the middle-of-the-night feeds. The extra sleep is good for the mum, but good for the dad, too: it's easy for men to feel left out of the whole breastfeeding experience--it might not feel like it at the time, but there's a lot of bonding that goes on in the middle of the night.
Good luck with it!
Posted by: Martin Sutherland
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August 16, 2006 10:59 PM
Hey, Martin! Thanks for the pep talk, always the voice of reason...
I am actually looking forward to the night time disturbances, just not the "so I know what it feels like" approach. Everything else is game on.
Posted by: Lee ? | August 17, 2006 12:19 PM