world breastfeeding week
Midwives reveal what mothers need most when breastfeeding
Breastfeeding women need strong support, especially in the early days.
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Four out of five mothers start breastfeeding as soon as their child is born. This presents them with a number of challenges, especially in the early stages. Two midwives reveal who can support the women.
Four out of five women in Germany will become mothers at least once in their lives. And 80 percent of all mothers start breastfeeding as soon as their child is born. What at first sounds like the most natural thing in the world is often associated with a certain physical and mental strain for new mothers.
However, this is often noticed by the child’s father, but only very few partners offer the breastfeeding woman the support she needs during the challenging time, as a survey by the women’s health brand “Elvie” shows. According to this, 70 percent of fathers would like to support their partner more while breastfeeding.
What do breastfeeding mothers need?
But how can partners, friends and family even help women during the intensive breastfeeding period? The midwives Julia Brömsen and Jasmin Czech have been working in their own practice for years and give tips for new parents on Instagram under the name “Mommalie”.
As part of the World Breastfeeding Week beginning on October 3, 2022, the two experts will also be giving tips for the social environment of breastfeeding women. The five most important pieces of advice from Brömsen and Czech:
Five tips to support breastfeeding mothers
- Ask about the needs of the breastfeeding woman. Be alert and pay close attention to what is needed at the moment. “Questions like ‘How are you?’, ‘How can I help you?’, ‘What do you need?’ or ‘Would you like something to drink?’ don’t let any unfulfilled expectations arise and the mums also feel cared for,” says Brömsen.
- Take the baby with you. Take the baby with you. Of course, the bond between mother and child is very important, especially in the early days. But everyone needs a break sometimes. This relieves the nursing mother and ensures that partners, friends and family also develop a bond with the newborn.
- Help the nursing mother with the household chores. Caring for a newborn child is usually a lot more work than you might think at first glance. If breastfeeding mothers also have to take care of the household, then overstrain is programmed. So offer help in the household, with shopping or other errands.
- Give the breastfeeding free time. Especially in the first few months with a baby, mothers spend a lot of time breastfeeding. By pumping milk, free space can be created that can then be used for valuable self-care. So feel free to feed the baby with the breast milk that has been pumped from the bottle to relieve the breastfeeding mother.
- Provide relaxing moments. Stress is poison for both mother and child. It is therefore important to make the environment and everyday life as stress-free as possible so that, in the best case scenario, everyone involved can get through the first few days as a small family in good health.