Piedmont Macon Medical Center offers tips to new mothers during National Breastfeeding Month
August is National Breastfeeding Month, and Piedmont Macon Medical Center wants new and expecting mothers to know there are options when it comes to feeding your baby.
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – August is National Breastfeeding Month, and Piedmont Macon Medical Center wants new and expecting mothers to know there are options when it comes to feeding your baby.
Kaitlyn Oscar is a mother of two. After the difficult birth of her first son, she says breastfeeding was a challenge.
“So it took us six weeks of sort of navigating that by ourselves before he was able to latch,” she said.
Her youngest son, Waylon, was born just three months ago.
“I had really wanted that redemptive birth and that bonding experience, and I had that sort of PTSD from pumping last time and I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m not going to be able to feed this baby,'” she said.
But this time, Oscar had an advocate.
She says one of the nurses at Piedmont Macon Medical Center pushed for her to be able to breastfeed Waylon while he was in the Neonatal intensive care unit.
“It’s been smooth sailing from there,” Oscar said. “I mean he’s done great, and he’s enormous, so he’s obviously well fed.”
According to Certified Lactation Counselor at Piedmont Macon, Jacquelyn Gibbs, breastfeeding can be especially difficult during the first two to six weeks after a child is born.
She says some mothers may choose not to breastfeed because of certain medications, recent surgeries, pain or low milk production.
“A lot of times moms don’t respond to pumps as well as they would to a baby nursing, so when they pump, they see, Ooh I only got an ounce,’ but realistically a baby is probably going to pull more than that ounce out,” Gibbs explained.
Gibbs says breastfeeding has several benefits, including reduced risk of postpartum depression, reduced risk of ovarian and breast cancers for the mother, as well as improved immune system and brain development for the child.
She says women shouldn’t feel ashamed of using an alternative like baby formula or donations from a milk bank.
Both Gibbs and Oscar agree that what matters most is the health of a mother and her child.
“If it’s something that you want to do, just keep pushing through, reach out for your resources, don’t give up,” Gibbs said. “There’s always a way that we can help somebody.”
The Academy of Pediatrics recommends exclusively breastfeeding an infant for the first six months of their life. Under Georgia law, it is legal for a mother to breastfeed anywhere in public.
If you have any questions about breastfeeding, Gibbs recommends talking to a lactation counselor, pediatrician or OBGYN.
