Selected Podcast
The Benefits of Breastfeeding
Why is breastfeeding the best option for both newborns and their moms? Learn from a UVA pediatrician and certified lactation consultant who serves as medical director of UVA's Newborn Nursery.
Featured Speaker:
Dr. Ann Kellams
Dr. Ann Kellams is a board-certified pediatrician and director of UVA’s Breastfeeding Medicine Program.Organization: UVA Children’s Hospital
Transcription:
The Benefits of Breastfeeding
Melanie Cole (Host): Breastfeeding has been shown to be the best option for both newborn and their moms. My guest is Dr. Ann Kellams, she is a board certified pediatrician and director of UVA’s breastfeeding medicine program. Welcome to the show, Dr. Kellams, tell us a little bit for newborns, what are the health benefits of breastfeeding.
Dr. Ann Kellams (Guest): Thank you for having me. I think the first thing to know is that human milk is really perfectly designed for human babies, it is different than cow’s milk or goat’s milk or squirrel’s milk, any other mammal and so there is no question that a baby getting its mother milk has added health benefits or may be that is the norm and may be wish to think about that what are the risks of not using breast milk. Babies who breastfeed tend to have lower infections and that is because their mother as they are exposed to the environment or making antibodies specific to what the baby sees, they also have lower rates of sudden infant death syndrome, probably because babies are supposed to be close to their moms, feeding frequently but that elegant cueing system where the baby shows a little sign and the mother responds, they sleep differently, there is even long term effects such as lower rates of diabetes type 1 and type 2 later in childhood, all kinds of good stuff.
Melanie: So, Dr. Kellams, other than the bonding which is so wonderful for mom and baby, what are some of the benefits of breastfeeding for the new mom.
Dr. Kellams: Yeah, so for the new moms, it has been shown that if you breastfeed, your rates of breast cancer are lower, your rates of ovarian cancer are lower and then there are some immediate postpartum effects such as lower rates of postpartum depression which you mentioned, less blood loss, so less of that bleeding after delivery and moms do get down to their normal size more quickly after delivery.
Melanie: In your role with UVA’s breastfeeding medicine program, what are the most common issues new moms face with breastfeeding because some women, this is not as much as they would like to think, a natural process and for some women Dr. Kellams, it is not always that natural of a feeling right off the bat, is it.
Dr. Kellams: I agree with you. I think that when I think about that breastfeeding is natural, I have to remind myself that a lot of things that we do in the hospital as part of our routines for, you know, preserving safety and health during the birthing process are not natural and so, it used to be routine that you would have your baby and then it would be whisked off to a warmer or to a room down the hall called the newborn nursery where they were supposed to live but they can come out and visit mom and so all of these kinds of separations and interventions, medications that mom get, IV fluids serve for the purpose and have helped us to make the birthing process safer but on the backend, it can make the establishment of this natural feeding patterns unresponsive, a little more tricky so. One of the things we do in the clinic is meet with women prenatally, particularly if they have had trouble breastfeeding another child or they are worried or they have a particular medical condition or medication they are taking that might put them at more risk of having trouble right away. We see a lot of moms for reassurance about supply, so we do a full exam of the baby, we look at the weight pattern, we look at that output pattern and try to come up with a plan for her to either increase her milk supply or reassure her that things are going well because it is really hard to know would you have not done this before. We work on latch and sometimes the baby is doing something funny with its tongue or with its lips or not get on deeply enough, really trying to make sure that both mom and baby are comfortable because generally, a painful latch which you hear so much about seems so common, really is an indicator generally that the baby is doing something on the front or shallow or the angle is such that the nipple is really rubbing the tongue that we try to help fix that because really a deep comfortable latch is what we are going for. The other thing we do is work with moms either when the baby has been premature or may be ill in the hospital, so there has been a separation or a medical condition that prevented them from getting it going and so then we can help them to, on the backend, get the baby back to the breast. Sometimes, that takes a couple of days and depending on the issue, sometimes it takes a couple of weeks but usually its possible.
Melanie: So, Dr. Kellams, as you address all of these issues with new moms, how do you help them set up a breastfeeding routine because that becomes something that does help them adjust much more easily getting into that routine, looking forward to it.
Dr. Kellams: Yeah, well and I think that part of helping them is helping them to realize that if you don’t feel like you are pro at this until it has been a few weeks because newborns are sloppy and sleepy and they forget what they are doing and they move their arm in the way and so, you kind of need the no going into it that it is going to feel very hit or miss and for women in our society are used to kind of having it altogether and that can be really tough, it is the first time for many in years that they have not been able to call the shots about their life and so we really focus on the interaction between the mom and the baby and getting teaching the mom what the little subtle feeding cues are or how to maximize the effectiveness of a certain feeding if the baby thinks they are done and you do a little hand expression and then they kind of wake up and get more interested or may be it is time to burp or change the diaper and finish that diet or something like that, so a lot of paying attention to what the baby is showing and paying attention to mom’s body because moms can get used to telling oh wait, I’m empty, that was a great feeling, you know, versus ha, this is then go very well, so I am going to be watching you and the next time you stir, we have got to finish that, so we do a lot of kind of getting to know that baby and seeing how they interact and seeing how we can help them get into a groove.
Melanie: And how do you help the family and even the father get involved with this bonding, how can the father and the family be involved as well.
Dr. Kellams: Yeah, that is a great question because so many women will say something like well, I do want to breastfeed but I want the dad to be involved. There are so many things that dads, partners, grandparents, helpers can do. In the first few weeks, the baby is going to have Brazilian diapers, mom is going to need to rest when the baby is resting, so that means anything like laundry, cooking, cleaning, answering all the myriad of phone calls that are coming in, can all sort of handled by them and then right after a feeding when moms kind of get in back together and may be needs to go to the bathroom or something, the baby will often be sleepy and that is a great time for grandma or dad to hold and snuggle the baby and other really great thing for newborns is that as I mentioned they do sometimes fall asleep at the breast but they are not quite done so that is a great time to hand the baby off to one of those people that kind of be like, hey what are you doing and may be burp or may be change the diaper to kind of make them stir a little bit and then hand them back to mom to finish the feeding, so it is definitely a team effort. Mamma has the good, good milk that her body is making but that only happens for, you know, if you add it up an hour or two out of the 24 hours of the day, so lots of ways for people to get involved.
Melanie: So, there are so many ways and it is so helpful to the mom and to the baby if everybody else is involved in just the less 30 or 40 seconds if you would Dr. Kellams, tell us why families should choose UVA for their pediatric care.
Dr. Kellams: Well, I think UVA has come a long way in the past seven years in terms of really looking at the evidence of what helps moms successfully achieve their feeding plans and implementing those changes, so babies that are born at UVA go right to mom’s chest and they stay there until the first feeding is accomplished. We do not have a room called the newborn nursery anymore and only would separate mom and baby for a medical procedure or indication and now for the past two years, we have had a breastfeeding medicine program whether you are in the surgical ICU as a mom with a baby at home or your baby is readmitted to the pediatric floor or you are just home and having trouble, we have a way for you to see a lactation and a consultant pediatrician for help and so kind of comprehensive from prenatal all the way through to being home and at work, we have designed a program to help and we have not really advertised and it is all word of mouth and people are coming because this is feeling a need that previously was not addressed.
Melanie: Thank you so much Dr. Ann Kellams, sounds like a wonderful support system. You are listening to UVA Health Systems Radio. For more information, you can go to UVAHealth.com. This is Melanie Cole, thanks so much for listening.
The Benefits of Breastfeeding
Melanie Cole (Host): Breastfeeding has been shown to be the best option for both newborn and their moms. My guest is Dr. Ann Kellams, she is a board certified pediatrician and director of UVA’s breastfeeding medicine program. Welcome to the show, Dr. Kellams, tell us a little bit for newborns, what are the health benefits of breastfeeding.
Dr. Ann Kellams (Guest): Thank you for having me. I think the first thing to know is that human milk is really perfectly designed for human babies, it is different than cow’s milk or goat’s milk or squirrel’s milk, any other mammal and so there is no question that a baby getting its mother milk has added health benefits or may be that is the norm and may be wish to think about that what are the risks of not using breast milk. Babies who breastfeed tend to have lower infections and that is because their mother as they are exposed to the environment or making antibodies specific to what the baby sees, they also have lower rates of sudden infant death syndrome, probably because babies are supposed to be close to their moms, feeding frequently but that elegant cueing system where the baby shows a little sign and the mother responds, they sleep differently, there is even long term effects such as lower rates of diabetes type 1 and type 2 later in childhood, all kinds of good stuff.
Melanie: So, Dr. Kellams, other than the bonding which is so wonderful for mom and baby, what are some of the benefits of breastfeeding for the new mom.
Dr. Kellams: Yeah, so for the new moms, it has been shown that if you breastfeed, your rates of breast cancer are lower, your rates of ovarian cancer are lower and then there are some immediate postpartum effects such as lower rates of postpartum depression which you mentioned, less blood loss, so less of that bleeding after delivery and moms do get down to their normal size more quickly after delivery.
Melanie: In your role with UVA’s breastfeeding medicine program, what are the most common issues new moms face with breastfeeding because some women, this is not as much as they would like to think, a natural process and for some women Dr. Kellams, it is not always that natural of a feeling right off the bat, is it.
Dr. Kellams: I agree with you. I think that when I think about that breastfeeding is natural, I have to remind myself that a lot of things that we do in the hospital as part of our routines for, you know, preserving safety and health during the birthing process are not natural and so, it used to be routine that you would have your baby and then it would be whisked off to a warmer or to a room down the hall called the newborn nursery where they were supposed to live but they can come out and visit mom and so all of these kinds of separations and interventions, medications that mom get, IV fluids serve for the purpose and have helped us to make the birthing process safer but on the backend, it can make the establishment of this natural feeding patterns unresponsive, a little more tricky so. One of the things we do in the clinic is meet with women prenatally, particularly if they have had trouble breastfeeding another child or they are worried or they have a particular medical condition or medication they are taking that might put them at more risk of having trouble right away. We see a lot of moms for reassurance about supply, so we do a full exam of the baby, we look at the weight pattern, we look at that output pattern and try to come up with a plan for her to either increase her milk supply or reassure her that things are going well because it is really hard to know would you have not done this before. We work on latch and sometimes the baby is doing something funny with its tongue or with its lips or not get on deeply enough, really trying to make sure that both mom and baby are comfortable because generally, a painful latch which you hear so much about seems so common, really is an indicator generally that the baby is doing something on the front or shallow or the angle is such that the nipple is really rubbing the tongue that we try to help fix that because really a deep comfortable latch is what we are going for. The other thing we do is work with moms either when the baby has been premature or may be ill in the hospital, so there has been a separation or a medical condition that prevented them from getting it going and so then we can help them to, on the backend, get the baby back to the breast. Sometimes, that takes a couple of days and depending on the issue, sometimes it takes a couple of weeks but usually its possible.
Melanie: So, Dr. Kellams, as you address all of these issues with new moms, how do you help them set up a breastfeeding routine because that becomes something that does help them adjust much more easily getting into that routine, looking forward to it.
Dr. Kellams: Yeah, well and I think that part of helping them is helping them to realize that if you don’t feel like you are pro at this until it has been a few weeks because newborns are sloppy and sleepy and they forget what they are doing and they move their arm in the way and so, you kind of need the no going into it that it is going to feel very hit or miss and for women in our society are used to kind of having it altogether and that can be really tough, it is the first time for many in years that they have not been able to call the shots about their life and so we really focus on the interaction between the mom and the baby and getting teaching the mom what the little subtle feeding cues are or how to maximize the effectiveness of a certain feeding if the baby thinks they are done and you do a little hand expression and then they kind of wake up and get more interested or may be it is time to burp or change the diaper and finish that diet or something like that, so a lot of paying attention to what the baby is showing and paying attention to mom’s body because moms can get used to telling oh wait, I’m empty, that was a great feeling, you know, versus ha, this is then go very well, so I am going to be watching you and the next time you stir, we have got to finish that, so we do a lot of kind of getting to know that baby and seeing how they interact and seeing how we can help them get into a groove.
Melanie: And how do you help the family and even the father get involved with this bonding, how can the father and the family be involved as well.
Dr. Kellams: Yeah, that is a great question because so many women will say something like well, I do want to breastfeed but I want the dad to be involved. There are so many things that dads, partners, grandparents, helpers can do. In the first few weeks, the baby is going to have Brazilian diapers, mom is going to need to rest when the baby is resting, so that means anything like laundry, cooking, cleaning, answering all the myriad of phone calls that are coming in, can all sort of handled by them and then right after a feeding when moms kind of get in back together and may be needs to go to the bathroom or something, the baby will often be sleepy and that is a great time for grandma or dad to hold and snuggle the baby and other really great thing for newborns is that as I mentioned they do sometimes fall asleep at the breast but they are not quite done so that is a great time to hand the baby off to one of those people that kind of be like, hey what are you doing and may be burp or may be change the diaper to kind of make them stir a little bit and then hand them back to mom to finish the feeding, so it is definitely a team effort. Mamma has the good, good milk that her body is making but that only happens for, you know, if you add it up an hour or two out of the 24 hours of the day, so lots of ways for people to get involved.
Melanie: So, there are so many ways and it is so helpful to the mom and to the baby if everybody else is involved in just the less 30 or 40 seconds if you would Dr. Kellams, tell us why families should choose UVA for their pediatric care.
Dr. Kellams: Well, I think UVA has come a long way in the past seven years in terms of really looking at the evidence of what helps moms successfully achieve their feeding plans and implementing those changes, so babies that are born at UVA go right to mom’s chest and they stay there until the first feeding is accomplished. We do not have a room called the newborn nursery anymore and only would separate mom and baby for a medical procedure or indication and now for the past two years, we have had a breastfeeding medicine program whether you are in the surgical ICU as a mom with a baby at home or your baby is readmitted to the pediatric floor or you are just home and having trouble, we have a way for you to see a lactation and a consultant pediatrician for help and so kind of comprehensive from prenatal all the way through to being home and at work, we have designed a program to help and we have not really advertised and it is all word of mouth and people are coming because this is feeling a need that previously was not addressed.
Melanie: Thank you so much Dr. Ann Kellams, sounds like a wonderful support system. You are listening to UVA Health Systems Radio. For more information, you can go to UVAHealth.com. This is Melanie Cole, thanks so much for listening.