Selected Podcast
Breastfeeding Support
Stephanie Nicholson discusses breastfeeding support, how people can prepare for breastfeeding, and the benefits that breastfeeding can have for a child.
Featuring:
Stephanie Nicholson, BSN, RN
Stephanie Nicholson, BSN, RN is a Perinatal Educator & RTS Bereavement Coordinator. Transcription:
Deborah Howell (Host): Welcome to Right Beside You, a Reid Health podcast. I'm Deborah Howell, and I invite you to listen as we discuss breastfeeding support. Joining me is Stephanie Nicholson, a registered nurse, perinatal educator, and RTS bereavement coordinator with Reid Health. She's also an international board-certified lactation consultant. Stephanie, it's a pleasure to have you with us today.
Stephanie Nicholson: Thank you. I appreciate you having me on.
Deborah Howell (Host): Our pleasure. Let's begin with the current breastfeeding recommendations and basis of those recommendations. Can you speak to them?
Stephanie Nicholson: I sure can. The CDC, the World Health Organization, American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, as well as the American Academy of Family Physicians, and many other groups recommend that infants be exclusively breastfed for the first six months after birth.
There is also consensus among leaders that breastfeeding has benefits well beyond the first six months. There are a lot of benefits for breastfeeding, including health benefits for both babies and parents when breastfeeding. Breast milk is easily digested by babies, because it is the perfect combination of nutrients that meets each baby's individual needs. It has protective factors that may reduce certain health concerns, like ear infections, some respiratory infections and gastrointestinal upset.
Breastfeeding helps with bonding between infants and mothers. And we know that it decreases the risk of problems for moms both immediately after birth, like bleeding concerns, as well as later on with female cancers, heart disease and osteoporosis.
Deborah Howell (Host): It's pretty important, isn't it? So what can someone do to feel better prepared for breastfeeding?
Stephanie Nicholson: I always say in my classes, learn as much as you can about breastfeeding before you need to breastfeed. So this can mean reading books, taking classes, joining support groups, talking with the healthcare professionals and finding someone like a lactation consultant that you can ask questions to, talk about concerns, receive encouragement, and build a support system. This lets you learn tips and gain confidence to work through issues should they end up arising. You get to learn about breastfeeding before you're actually having to do it. And that takes a little bit of pressure off of the concerns in the moment.
Deborah Howell (Host): It is kind of a lot of pressure on a new mom, isn't it?
Stephanie Nicholson: It is.
Deborah Howell (Host): So supporting for breastfeeding can take many forms. Can you tell us about them?
Stephanie Nicholson: Absolutely. So one form of breastfeeding support is baby-friendly hospital initiative. And here in the United States, baby-friendly hospitals are committed to the highest standards for moms and babies to be cared for related to infant feeding and education. These programs or facilities are prepared to help parents and their babies get off to the best start at life. And in these facilities, staff are trained in the care of breastfeeding moms and babies. So babies get to stay with their moms immediately after birth. And they are able to remain with their parents day and night so that they have plenty of chances to practice and feel prepared for going home.
Unfortunately, only about a quarter of babies end up meeting the recommendations of exclusive breastfeeding for six months and 60% of moms stop breastfeeding earlier than what they actually wanted to. And so we look at breastfeeding duration being impacted by things like the support that moms have from their friends and family, healthcare providers, both inside the hospital and outside, the parent's workplace and the early childhood education facilities that families have access to.
Parents can find the support and information from different health professionals and organizations. It helps when the support system knows how to support breastfeeding for moms, things like feeding on demand instead of feeding based on a time schedule and giving words of encouragement to the breastfeeding parent all make a huge difference in how a breastfeeding mom feels supported.
Deborah Howell (Host): Sure. So there's definitely support out there if you seek it and find it. I'm hoping we can talk about the several types of professional lactation support.
Stephanie Nicholson: Yes. So breastfeeding support ranges from basic emotional support and encouragement to guidance and assistance with complicated clinical circumstances. And all of those things play an important role in providing care for families. The different categories of lactation support can vary considerably in terms of the amount of training and experience people have.
And so when trying to understand the differences between those, it can be very confusing for both families and even other members of the healthcare team. There are three areas of lactation support. There are lactation consultants, counselors, and educators, as well as peer support. So first, the counselors and educators, they have special training and experience in helping breastfeeding families. They can help with basic breastfeeding challenges and questions. They take a training course that often includes a written exam or certification that's offered by the training organization once the training is finished
Next, there's the international board-certified lactation consultant. And they are professionals with both knowledge and skills to support breastfeeding because they have not only college-level understanding of human anatomy and physiology, but they also take 90 hours of breastfeeding-specific or lactation-specific education. And they then must have upwards of a thousand hours of clinical experience in breastfeeding before they can even fit for the certification exam, they must pass a rigorous certification exam to achieve their title. They can help with comprehensive breastfeeding issues and answer complex questions that parents may have as well as helping out with the basic breastfeeding challenges and questions that parents come up with.
Last, peer counselors or peer lactation support includes placesthe La Leche groups, WIC, peer counselors, and other support programs. These individuals or groups have personal experience oftentimes with breastfeeding. And with groups, the leaders have often taken classroom training to be able to help others. Peer support provides breastfeeding information, encouragement, and just overall support for families within the community. So it's person helping person, instead of someone looking for a professional.
Deborah Howell (Host): So where can women go to find lactation support?
Stephanie Nicholson: Lactation support is oftentimes available, but sometimes it isn't the easiest to find. Families should start by asking family and friends if they know about lactation professionals in the community. And then, you can always reach out to your local breastfeeding hospital or WIC office and ask to speak with a lactation professional. These people will often have a long list of support people and support groups who can help with breastfeeding. Of course, in today's day and age, we have social media as well. And that's a great place that you can also find various support for lactation, both professional and such as the peer group.
Deborah Howell (Host): Well, this has been such an informative episode. Stephanie, as we wrap up, do you have any other advice for women and couples who need help with breastfeeding?
Stephanie Nicholson: I would like to add that breastfeeding is achievable for almost every family. There's really rare circumstances where parents aren't able to truly breastfeed. So if you have questions or concerns, please reach out for support and assistance from the lactation professionals that are in your community.
Deborah Howell (Host): All great information. Thank you so much for your time today. I hope you'll join us again soon.
Stephanie Nicholson: Thank you for having me on today. I really appreciate the time to talk.
Deborah Howell (Host): For more information, you can always visit reidhealth.org to get connected with one of our providers. That concludes this episode of Right Beside You, a Reid Health Podcast, please remember to subscribe, rate and review this podcast and all the other Reid Health podcasts. I'm Deborah Howell. Have a terrific day.
Deborah Howell (Host): Welcome to Right Beside You, a Reid Health podcast. I'm Deborah Howell, and I invite you to listen as we discuss breastfeeding support. Joining me is Stephanie Nicholson, a registered nurse, perinatal educator, and RTS bereavement coordinator with Reid Health. She's also an international board-certified lactation consultant. Stephanie, it's a pleasure to have you with us today.
Stephanie Nicholson: Thank you. I appreciate you having me on.
Deborah Howell (Host): Our pleasure. Let's begin with the current breastfeeding recommendations and basis of those recommendations. Can you speak to them?
Stephanie Nicholson: I sure can. The CDC, the World Health Organization, American Academy of Pediatrics and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, as well as the American Academy of Family Physicians, and many other groups recommend that infants be exclusively breastfed for the first six months after birth.
There is also consensus among leaders that breastfeeding has benefits well beyond the first six months. There are a lot of benefits for breastfeeding, including health benefits for both babies and parents when breastfeeding. Breast milk is easily digested by babies, because it is the perfect combination of nutrients that meets each baby's individual needs. It has protective factors that may reduce certain health concerns, like ear infections, some respiratory infections and gastrointestinal upset.
Breastfeeding helps with bonding between infants and mothers. And we know that it decreases the risk of problems for moms both immediately after birth, like bleeding concerns, as well as later on with female cancers, heart disease and osteoporosis.
Deborah Howell (Host): It's pretty important, isn't it? So what can someone do to feel better prepared for breastfeeding?
Stephanie Nicholson: I always say in my classes, learn as much as you can about breastfeeding before you need to breastfeed. So this can mean reading books, taking classes, joining support groups, talking with the healthcare professionals and finding someone like a lactation consultant that you can ask questions to, talk about concerns, receive encouragement, and build a support system. This lets you learn tips and gain confidence to work through issues should they end up arising. You get to learn about breastfeeding before you're actually having to do it. And that takes a little bit of pressure off of the concerns in the moment.
Deborah Howell (Host): It is kind of a lot of pressure on a new mom, isn't it?
Stephanie Nicholson: It is.
Deborah Howell (Host): So supporting for breastfeeding can take many forms. Can you tell us about them?
Stephanie Nicholson: Absolutely. So one form of breastfeeding support is baby-friendly hospital initiative. And here in the United States, baby-friendly hospitals are committed to the highest standards for moms and babies to be cared for related to infant feeding and education. These programs or facilities are prepared to help parents and their babies get off to the best start at life. And in these facilities, staff are trained in the care of breastfeeding moms and babies. So babies get to stay with their moms immediately after birth. And they are able to remain with their parents day and night so that they have plenty of chances to practice and feel prepared for going home.
Unfortunately, only about a quarter of babies end up meeting the recommendations of exclusive breastfeeding for six months and 60% of moms stop breastfeeding earlier than what they actually wanted to. And so we look at breastfeeding duration being impacted by things like the support that moms have from their friends and family, healthcare providers, both inside the hospital and outside, the parent's workplace and the early childhood education facilities that families have access to.
Parents can find the support and information from different health professionals and organizations. It helps when the support system knows how to support breastfeeding for moms, things like feeding on demand instead of feeding based on a time schedule and giving words of encouragement to the breastfeeding parent all make a huge difference in how a breastfeeding mom feels supported.
Deborah Howell (Host): Sure. So there's definitely support out there if you seek it and find it. I'm hoping we can talk about the several types of professional lactation support.
Stephanie Nicholson: Yes. So breastfeeding support ranges from basic emotional support and encouragement to guidance and assistance with complicated clinical circumstances. And all of those things play an important role in providing care for families. The different categories of lactation support can vary considerably in terms of the amount of training and experience people have.
And so when trying to understand the differences between those, it can be very confusing for both families and even other members of the healthcare team. There are three areas of lactation support. There are lactation consultants, counselors, and educators, as well as peer support. So first, the counselors and educators, they have special training and experience in helping breastfeeding families. They can help with basic breastfeeding challenges and questions. They take a training course that often includes a written exam or certification that's offered by the training organization once the training is finished
Next, there's the international board-certified lactation consultant. And they are professionals with both knowledge and skills to support breastfeeding because they have not only college-level understanding of human anatomy and physiology, but they also take 90 hours of breastfeeding-specific or lactation-specific education. And they then must have upwards of a thousand hours of clinical experience in breastfeeding before they can even fit for the certification exam, they must pass a rigorous certification exam to achieve their title. They can help with comprehensive breastfeeding issues and answer complex questions that parents may have as well as helping out with the basic breastfeeding challenges and questions that parents come up with.
Last, peer counselors or peer lactation support includes placesthe La Leche groups, WIC, peer counselors, and other support programs. These individuals or groups have personal experience oftentimes with breastfeeding. And with groups, the leaders have often taken classroom training to be able to help others. Peer support provides breastfeeding information, encouragement, and just overall support for families within the community. So it's person helping person, instead of someone looking for a professional.
Deborah Howell (Host): So where can women go to find lactation support?
Stephanie Nicholson: Lactation support is oftentimes available, but sometimes it isn't the easiest to find. Families should start by asking family and friends if they know about lactation professionals in the community. And then, you can always reach out to your local breastfeeding hospital or WIC office and ask to speak with a lactation professional. These people will often have a long list of support people and support groups who can help with breastfeeding. Of course, in today's day and age, we have social media as well. And that's a great place that you can also find various support for lactation, both professional and such as the peer group.
Deborah Howell (Host): Well, this has been such an informative episode. Stephanie, as we wrap up, do you have any other advice for women and couples who need help with breastfeeding?
Stephanie Nicholson: I would like to add that breastfeeding is achievable for almost every family. There's really rare circumstances where parents aren't able to truly breastfeed. So if you have questions or concerns, please reach out for support and assistance from the lactation professionals that are in your community.
Deborah Howell (Host): All great information. Thank you so much for your time today. I hope you'll join us again soon.
Stephanie Nicholson: Thank you for having me on today. I really appreciate the time to talk.
Deborah Howell (Host): For more information, you can always visit reidhealth.org to get connected with one of our providers. That concludes this episode of Right Beside You, a Reid Health Podcast, please remember to subscribe, rate and review this podcast and all the other Reid Health podcasts. I'm Deborah Howell. Have a terrific day.