Guide to breastfeeding

How to breast-feed

Breast-feeding is wondrous, but it's also sound science. It helps to understand the science to know why proper technique is necessary. After delivery, as estrogen and progesterone levels drop, the level of the milkmaking hormone prolactin rises, and your baby's suckling stimulates nerve impulses that set off a biochemical response which keeps it high. Prolactin not only aids milk secretion, but also has a calming effect on the mother.

Milk is produced in your breasts but isn't available to your baby until it is "let down" into the milk ducts. When your baby suckles, she triggers your letdown reflex which releases milk into the ducts. When this happens, you may feel a tingling sensation, which some women describe as pins and needles. Each breast nipple contains 15 to 20 milk duct openings. When the baby continues to suckle on the areola (the pigmented area surrounding the nipple), the breast releases milk into his mouth. During pregnancy, the breast's areola enlarges and turns from pink to reddish brown. Although the milk is released from the nipple, the baby nurses from the areola.

You know that your milk has let down when your baby's suckling slows and his swallowing increases. At this point, your other breast may start leaking, and if you've given birth in the last few weeks, you may feel your uterus contract. Breastmilk is actually composed of two milks: foremilk and hindmilk. You produce the bluish-white foremilk between feedings. The foremilk, which your baby receives first, quenches her thirst. The higher-fat hindmilk is produced during the feeding. The hindmilk satisfies your baby's hunger -- it's important to allow your baby to stay on each breast until she is satisfied.

In the first few weeks your breasts will feel hard as they adjust to producing milk. Later, as they become more efficient, they'll soften. Don't worry that, since your breasts are soft, you're no longer producing enough milk. Nursing promotes milk production. The more your baby nurses, the more abundant your milk will be.

Latching on and off

Proper positioning of the baby's mouth on the breast, known as latching on, ensures that your baby receives adequate nutrition and that you won't get sore, cracked nipples. To stimulate the baby's natural urge to suck, lightly stroke his cheek. He'll turn his head in the direction of the cheek you stroked. Or tickle his lower lip with your nipple.

Help your baby latch on by compressing your breast between your thumb and fingers, keeping your fingers away from the areola. By cupping the breast, you shape the areola to match the oval shape of the infant's mouth. Brush the nipple to the baby's mouth. When he opens his mouth wide, draw your baby to your breast so that his mouth covers most of your areola. The baby sucks on your areola, not on your nipple. If your baby is latched on correctly, nursing shouldn't hurt. If it does hurt and you see that your baby is sucking on the nipple rather than the areola, help him latch off and try again. To stop your baby from nursing, gently put your finger in the corner of his mouth to break the suction. If you simply pull your baby away, you'll hit the ceiling with pain.