Breastfeeding

Having a baby can be exhausting. In fact. It has been studied that parents lose many hours of sleep in the first year of their baby's life. And, if we breastfeed, this fatigue can fall more on the mother, who is in charge of feeding the baby at night.

I recognize that the usefulness you find in a nursing pillow knows no middle ground: either it becomes essential when feeding your baby (whether breastfeeding or bottle feeding), or it gets forgotten in a drawer . In my case I was from the first group and a repeat offender, since I used it with my two daughters and until the last day of the second lactation, which lasted almost two years.

I recognize that the utility you find in a nursing pillow knows no middle ground: either it becomes essential when feeding your baby (whether breastfeeding or bottle feeding), or it gets forgotten in a drawer . In my case I was from the first group and a repeat offender, since I used it with my two daughters and until the last day of the second lactation, which lasted almost two years.

Breastfeeding is the ideal food during the first six months of the baby's life; and also from then on, accompanied by other foods, up to two years or more (according to the wishes of the mother and the baby). The usual thing is to do direct breastfeeding (for the baby to suckle at the breast), but sometimes it is necessary to express milk for certain reasons. And manual removal is one of the ways to do it.

Lumps in the breast during breastfeeding are relatively common and often cause for concern. Although many times it is something easily solvable, such as a blocked duct, on other occasions it can be a more serious problem, so it is always important to consult a professional.

More than half of parents and pregnant women surveyed for a new WHO/UNICEF report say they have received advertising for breast-milk substitutes (also called "artificial milk" and "infant formula"), often in violation of international standards on infant feeding.

Around the second or third postpartum day, milk rise takes place (in other countries it is called milk let-down). The breast increases in size and consistency and can be annoying, although it subsides in a few days. However, in some cases excess fluid accumulates, which we know as edema; We then speak of engorgement or breast engorgement. It happens most often between the third and fifth days postpartum.

Two or three days after giving birth, the "milk rise" takes place (in some countries it is called "milk let-down"). This is a normal and temporary situation that, although it may be somewhat annoying, disappears in a few days. However, sometimes an excessive accumulation of fluids (edema) can appear and we then speak of engorgement. Engorgement can lead to problems; For this reason, multiple measures have been studied to alleviate it, among them, the softening reverse pressure.