Breastfeeding - How to Meet Your Goals

85% of mothers planned to breastfeed for at least the first three months after their baby’s birth.

A massive 2 thirds of them have trouble breastfeeding and do not meet their own goal.

Benefits of Breastfeeding

Previous research has proven that babies being fed on infant formula instead of breast milk have a greater tendency to have more health issues. Moreover, the babies being breastfed also have less risk of chest and ear infections, constipations and are less-likely to become obese.

For many years, the UK’s National Health Service (NHS) has been promoting the benefits of breastfeeding and have been educating mums-to-be to try breastfeeding and try to stick to it for about 6 months. However, 6 months is considered as idealistic and in many cases mums cannot breastfeed the way they have planned.

How to succeed in breastfeeding?

It is proven that mothers who have already had a baby have better chances to reach their breastfeeding goals. To develop the mother-baby breastfeeding regime it is best to try breast feeding within the very first hour after the baby’s birth.

Of course, for mothers who have delivered by caesarean or if the baby has had any complications just after childbirth, this may delay the first meal. This could potentially make it harder to then breastfeed the baby.

What could stop you?

“Not producing enough milk for my baby” is one of the main reasons why mothers stop breastfeeding early.

 

How could you increase the supply of milk?

Unfortunately, a low supply of milk could cause your baby to not gain weight as quickly as they should. This problem is very common but is also very simple to overcome, there are 3 common methods that would help induce lactation:

• A frequent pumping during the day can help increase the milk supply, but a lot of women don’t find it easy to find the time in the day to use a breast pump.

• Massaging the breasts and/or get your partner to suckle, which again can be hard to find time to do several times a day.

• Using a TENS machine, TENS can give discreet sensory stimulation at times when other techniques are not convenient. The mum can even leave the electrode pads on for several hours and switch the unit on and off whenever needed. No movement, sound or large devices are apparent.

TENS machines send a gentle electrical current to the nerves in the area being treated, in this case, the nerve stimulation will have a similar effect than another type of stimulation such as rubbing or suckling. This allows to promote the release of Prolactin which induces lactation.

The electrical stimulation will simply generate a superficial tingling/pins and needles sensation on the surface of the skin, which makes it non-penetrating and completely safe to use even for a long period of time. It is however contraindicated to use TENS in this way if the mother has a pacemaker or another implanted electric medical device.

TensCare developed new electrode pads specifically for use on the breast. These breast pads offer an improved comfort and an ease of use compare to the use of standard electrode. We suggest using these electrode pads with the Perfect TENS unit on programme C for about 15 minutes every two hours, or for the same amount of time with either of our Maternity TENS units on programme A.

TENS could also be used to generate lactation for mothers who didn’t carry the baby (in the case of adoption of a new-born for example).

 

We have also developed a range of breast pumps designed to encourage milk flow and make pumping easier, quicker and more comfortable. Read more about our award winning Nouri Breast Pump Range.