Excerpt from 25 Things Every Nursing Mother Needs To Know

Jan Ellen Brown, lactation consultant at Charlotte Pediatric Clinic, recently wrote a great must-have book for nursing mothers entitled 25 Things Every Nursing Mother Needs to Know. We were fortunate enough to be granted permission to publish one of her chapters here on our blog but had to choose which one we wanted to excerpt. What a difficult choice! They are all so good and all very useful. Hence the "Needs to Know" in the title. We hemmed and hawed and then decided that so much is made and written about how breastfeeding is good for the baby but not enough about how and why breastfeeding is good for the mom.

So here it is (enjoy):

3. Breastfeeding is best for you, too.

Suppose we offered you something that would relax you, boost your self-confidence, burn off calories, help you get more rest, and provide life-long health benefits. Oh, wait, and it is free! Tempting, yes? Well, breastfeeding offers all this and more.

You’ve probably heard that breastfeeding speeds recovery after childbirth. Nursing contracts the uterus, thus reducing the risk of postpartum bleeding (and eventually helping to flatten your belly). And, as we mentioned in Chapter 1, breastfeeding releases hormones that relax you and promote bonding with your child. But there’s more. Recent research has shown that breastfeeding provides mothers with a lengthy list of other long-term health and psychological benefits.

This should come as no surprise. After all, nursing is a natural part of the reproductive cycle. We should expect it to be the ideal mechanism for meeting the needs of infant and mother alike.

Being able to nourish your child outside the womb will give you confidence as a new mother. You’ll feel secure knowing you can meet your baby’s needs anytime, anywhere—and without any tools or equipment. Instead of getting up in the middle of the night to fix a bottle, you can pull your baby to your breast and dose off again. Your milk is always the right temperature, and it’s always available and safe. There is no expiration date!

Any time of day, nursing provides you a reason to sit down, rest, and give your baby your undivided attention. Instead of mixing formula and washing bottles, you can relax with child. You can leave the house without toting bottles or worrying about finding clean water. It will take a few weeks to master the art of breastfeeding, but once you do your life will be simplified.

And the benefits of breastfeeding last for the rest of your life. Studies report lower rates of ovarian cancer among women who have breastfed, and it appears that the risk of this cancer decreases the longer you nurse. Rates of pre-menopausal breast cancer are also lower among mothers who have breastfed. And there is mounting evidence that nursing protects women against osteoporosis (brittle bones) in later life.

Breastfeeding also delays menstruation after childbirth. Most nursing mothers go without periods for at least several months and as long as two years after delivery, provided they are nursing frequently. This makes breastfeeding a natural form of contraception.

When you nurse, you use extra calories, so you gradually lose the weight you gained during pregnancy. You shed extra pounds slowly and naturally, without any need for crash dieting. For many mothers, this is a favorite benefit of nursing.

There are financial benefits as well. You will save hundreds of dollars by not buying formula, even if you account for the cost of a breast pump and accessories.

Perhaps the most compelling reason to breastfeed is the emotional fulfillment and simple pleasure of the loving relationship that is established between mother and your baby at the breast. You’ll know no greater reward as a mother than witnessing your baby grow from your body—first in the womb, and then at the breast.

The book is available for purchase here online or at our East Blvd store.