The Bliss of Being A New Mom

The most exhilarating feeling of womanhood is becoming a Mother, holding the baby built inside you and finally in your arms after 9 long months of endurance, how miraculous is that!  A woman might not be as brawny as men but if we take emotional challenges into consideration, she can turn corners with a snap. Giving birth is a phase of complete transformation from a girl to a woman, physically and psychologically. A woman’s concern for her baby is vindictive and there are innumerable platforms online, available to gather information for the newbies. Though new mothers get heaps of advices from their mothers, grannies, relatives and numerous people they meet on their motherhood journey, these might leave you perplexed, since your body is evolving every single day and sometimes you may want to stick to your knitting. The bodily changes experienced by women are humungous during pregnancy and postpartum period. In addition to this every woman’s transformation journey is different. The most vital and significant being breast transformations in regards to quantum of milk production. I know you might be facing trouble whilst searching answers for some of the commonly thought questions about breastfeeding such as “will I get enough milk as soon as I deliver my baby?”, “ Will I be able to produce sufficient milk?” or “ how can I enhance my milk supply”, “how will I know my baby is well fed”. Here are resolutions to your problems and extra facts that you should know about milk and breastfeeding:

Breast milk is a holistic balanced diet for a new born that is rich in nutrients required for growth especially in the early stages. Breast milk helps your baby gain muscle mass and bone strength. In addition to this, it helps in the development of brain cells and kick-starts overall development of the body.

WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months for infants to achieve optimal growth and healthy weight gain. Also after 6 months along with solid complementary foods, breast milk is advised to be fed upto 2 years of age.

When will the breast milk start coming out?

Milk production will amp up after 30 to 40 hours, and the first milk that vents out is thick, creamy, yellowish golden called “Colostrums” which is very nutritious and contains ample amount of anti-bodies along with a lot of vitamins and proteins to support infant’s growth in the early stages. Colostrum begins to come out after the placenta is detached and the hormones signal the brain to start producing it. Albeit the white breast milk will flow freely in 3 to 4 days after you have given birth. Until then there is no heaviness experienced in the breasts but once the milk starts flowing effortlessly the breasts become heavy and the real nursing process starts. The milk production will surge up as the hormones start directing the brain to produce milk frequently.

How would I know if my baby is getting enough milk?

The best way to check whether the baby is having substantial quantity of milk is by keeping a track of baby’s urine output via, heaviness of the diaper and frequency of diaper change in a day. The baby must wet atleast six diapers and dirty two in a day.

If you feel your baby  is suckling on your fists,

You may keep a track of baby’s weight over a period of 2 or 3 weeks because babies ramp up weight in these weeks and the weight gain is noticeably visible.

When you baby demands the next feed in realistic gaps of 2 or 3 hours.

 How can you the increase the milk supply?

Milk supply does not depend on what size your breasts are. The size of your cups doesn’t determine the milk produced by them. That is, larger breasts do not mean relatively greater supply of milk. It is all about how much “Prolactin” is secreted by your body.

The more you breast feed the more milk will be produced.

It is very important for you to follow a balanced diet in terms of consumption of a lot of healthy fluids.

Though sleep might be elusive, but you have to take out time to calm your body and give it ample amount of rest.

The golden thumb rule is – “The more you feed, the more milk you produce”.

In the initial stages of nursing, you will probably need to breastfeed your baby 8 to 10 times a day, and sometimes even more because the baby will grow at a faster pace in the early stages and, therefore needs more nutritious milk. Your brain will signal to secrete more hormones responsible for milk production and letting down. For further practice of techniques a lactation counselor should be consulted.