Report Broken Link

Reconsidering breastfeeding management: One breast or both breasts at a feed?

Abstract:

Following the recent UNICEF breastfeeding awareness initiative and the recognition of breast milk as the best form of nutrition for infants, there has been an upsurge by health professionals, especially midwives, in developing strategies that promote, protect and support women to breastfeed. However, not all of these have met with the success that had been anticipated. Many units have introduced guidelines and policies in an attempt to ensure that breastfeeding management has some consistency and mothers are given correct information to enable them to make informed decisions about the breastfeeding experience - a highly desirable development that has the potential to help both professional and mothers. However, what appears to be happening is that these guidelines are becoming inflexible rules to be carried out to the point of extreme insistence. As a midwife and lactation consultatnt I have become increasingly alarmed at the insistence of many on one-sided feeding or using both breasts at each feed, and at the increasing number of women who have developed breastfeeding problems as a direct result of this. This discussion will consider these issues in light of recent research that emphasises the role which the baby plays in controlling its own rate of nutrition.

 view online article View Document

breastfeeding guidelines, breastfeeding issues, lactation management, milk supply, one-sided breastfeeding