Tag: Breastfeeding

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Review of New borns and new moms #myfriendalexa

New borns and new moms

BLURB:

As soon as a baby is born, a woman’s life is engulfed by inevitable chaos. Newborns and New Moms dispels the confusion new mothers in urban India often go through.

Drawing from her own experience as a mother and her years as an accomplished and empathetic family physician, Dr Farah Adam Mukadam offers valuable tips and advice tailored for Indian parents through a book that:

Prepares a mother for her new life once the baby comes home
Validates Indian traditions surrounding childcare from a scientific and modern perspective
Provides insights about what to expect from family members and how to handle complex domestic circumstances after childbirth
Covers pertinent topics like mastering breastfeeding, accepting your changed body, postpartum mental and sexual well-being and readjusting to work after maternity leave
Contains useful tips for expecting couples in the age of Covid-19
Packed with wisdom and strengthened by real-life examples, this accessible how-to is the inspiration you need to embrace and enjoy motherhood.

MY REVIEW :

Whoever said that a toddler is a blender without a lid failed to relate this to a new mothers brain.

Being a new mother myself, there were a lot of things running in my mind. The baby, my toddler, my elderly parents and the covid pandemic that added itself to my ever piling up list of worries.

It was the right time that I grabbed Farah’s book which was exactly like she had a CCTV control room at her office.

A new mother is confused about her capabilities of mastering Breastfeeding, accepting her bodily functions post delivery, mental and sexual well-being yes that’s important too after delivery and adjusting herself to workplace post maternity.

Farah writes about postpartum care of the new mother. Most households have a similarity in the confinement period, belly binding ( you need not be in a hurry, but yes you could do it if you are comfortable and want to get back to pre pregnancy body ) .

The diet that the new mother is advised to what she can and what she has to avoid inorder to have a smoother transition.A set of general guidelines outlining the must be done and mustn’t be done. The meal should be simple, light, according to the mother’s taste and special foods that need to be mandatory in her meal. A lovely meal plan for new mothers charted by Farah is an easy guide for all new moms. The meal plan makes it easy for making prior preparation so that she doesn’t have to spend much time cooking.

Baby’s sickness and health is the four chapter where we get to know about various conditions pertaining to baby growth, brain development, colic, spit up and constipation. The doctor unapproved substances like Kajal, castor oil but are a must as per family traditions are very well explained on why being termed as unapproved.

Breastfeeding chapter discusses about the basic know how’s , preparation and must haves.A separate section about saboteurs and self doubters is something I really enjoyed reading and relate much. The field of lactation is been made aware only recently. We only knew about gynecologist and paediatricians. But the role of lactation consultant in between these two is known recently and is helping families from switching to formula and instead correct issues in breastfeeding. The appearance of bumps during breastfeeding, the causes and first aids to be followed are explained clearly so that you can conclude what you are suffering from.

A separate chapter on body image issues faced by women postpartum clearly explains why women look the way they are post delivery. A workout routine and eating right to keep metabolism levels up also helps new mothers to get back to their pre pregnancy weight.

PPD or postpartum depression would be the next word on Google suggestions if you type postpartum. Farah discusses about mood swings and ways to divert yourself.

The bedrooms after the baby, right from sleeping with the baby to getting back to sex life what you need to know is just waiting for you to read. All your doubts and inhibitions would be cleared very well once you read this book.

Just a like an extra wish, as a new mother, you could also offer your advice and care to couples who are planning for pregnancy during this time of #pandemic . Yes Farah has an exclusive epilogue just to address this.

At simple usage of words, mix of her personal and other real life experiences from patients, Farah makes this book a go to guide for every #newmother .

BOOK DETAILS

Format : Paperback

Pages : 288

Publisher : Pan

Price : Rs. 319

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dr Farah Adam Mukadam is a family physician from Bengaluru, India. She completed her MBBS from Kasturba Medical College, Manipal and holds a Diploma in Family Medicine. She is a mother of two kids, a six-year-old son and a three-year-old daughter. She is a consulting physician at Narayana Hrudalaya Multispecialty Clinic, Bengaluru and has a special interest in providing breastfeeding and postpartum support to new mothers. She has a YouTube channel called ‘Momstein’ where she often busts myths around contemporary medical aid.
Instagram @dr.farah_momstein
Facebook @dr.farahadam


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Ten Breastfeeding Myths Busted

Soon after a woman delivers , advices start pouring in from all directions. Starting with healing from delivery, Breastfeeding, taking care of baby, postpartum care and what not. Most often they are centered around some age old myths that have been in place. Let’s take a look at the top ten myths relating to Breastfeeding.

Breastfeeding myths busted.

1 Do not nurse when you’re sick.

Our bodies produce antibodies when we’re sick. When we continue to breastfeed babies, the antibodies we produce to fight against sickness gets transmitted to the babies and helps in raising the immunity levels in them. During these times where covid19 is at its peak of spreading, breastfeeding is a great way to protect babies. WHO has also issued guidelines that a mother who is covid positive can continue breastfeeding her baby and this is in a way much better to protect the baby against infections.

2. Small breasts do not produce enough milk.


Size of breasts doesn’t decide the amount of milk. Every woman has the ability to produce breastmilk for her baby. So the size of the breasts be it big or small doesn’t decide the quantity that would be produced.

3 Prepare your breasts and nipples by toughening them for Breastfeeding.


Nipple stimulation can induce labour, just gently massage them and they would do their job. In olden days ghee was used to massage the breast and nipples. Though this is a tradition that is being followed even now , sometimes could lead to preterm labor.

4 . Clean your nipples before every feed.


This is much important for bottle feed. This was a precaution cause impure nipples can lead to bacterial formation and later lead to health hazards. But when it comes to Breastfeeding, you needn’t clean your nipples each time. Cause if you do, you are wiping away the lubrication that’s is being provided by the oils from the glands.

5. Eat bland food when you’re breastfeeding


Eat anything in moderation that won’t affect the baby. The food that you eat is fully digested and then utilised to produce breastmilk. Hence the food is broken down before breastmilk preparation. So you can eat anything, but in moderation.

6. Breastfed babies tend to be clingy and dependent


Studies have proved that breastfed babies have grown up to be more independent. Quite often when women say they are breastfeeding post age one, the immediate comments they get is you are making your baby much clingy. The kids will be dependent on you. Breastfed babies actually tend to be more independent and capable of being more stronger .

7. You can’t get pregnant when you’re breastfeeding.


We’ve been told ovulation doesn’t occur when you breastfeed, but you can’t trust that to be birth control method. It is true that Breastfeeding can help in relating period and so ovulation doesn’t occur. But it is not always a trusted method of birth control. So it is always advisable to consult your doctor for a suitable birth control method.

8. Do not nurse when you have blocked duct or infection.

Nursing often doesn’t lead to blocking. Nursing during duct actually clears it up. Blocked duct most often can be cleared if you feed after got or cold compress. But inorder to avoid duct formation its always adviced to feed frequently.

9. Drink milk to make your milk.



Even if you do not drink milk your supply won’t be affected. Drinking milk is not the only way to produce breastmilk. Intact no food is said to boost supply, each woman has the won ability to produce breastmilk for their baby. Whether or not they drink milk, their breasts would be producing breastmilk.

10. If your breasts don’t grow when you’re pregnant you cannot make enough milk.

Generally breasts go up by one or two cup sizes for most women when they’re pregnant. But that does not decide if you produce more or less breastmilk. Whether they grow or no your breasts will be making milk.

So ditch the myths and continue breastfeeding. That’s what our babies needs.

If we have myths busted for Breastfeeding why not parenting myths debunked. Read on to know more.

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Are you still breastfeeding ? When to start with BLW ??

Hello Mommies,

March 13 2017 was the day I met my little angel who gave me a second life. The labor and delivery was a scintillating experience for me as a first time mommy. All throughout my pregnancy, I constantly kept myself occupied reading about the various ways people enjoyed being pregnant. I followed fellow blogger mommies who had different views on everything relating to pregnancy. Right from the tests, scan, food, workouts, and leisure time; my choices were abundant and I had plenty to choice from.

But, the one thing that was constantly running in my subconscious mind- VAGINAL DELIVERY and BREASTFEEDING.

That is also the time I started reading about breastfeeding. I also got to know there were classes for learning about various positions to feed the baby and that can be taken even before the delivery. There are also few hospitals who offer this as part of their package to expecting clients. Well, living in the 21st century, this is not something to be surprised of. This would not have been possible for our ancestors- say even our moms.

When I told my mom about this, she found it interesting and gave me a go ahead. Though we do have the elders guiding us through their experiences, they still agree on things like these.

A breastfeeding class can introduce us to some of the different positions and offer some reassurance that breastfeeding is not something that’s going to happen immediately. Baby and us are both going to need some time to get the hang of it.

The ‘Womanly Art of Breastfeeding’ is a wonderful book to start with, in case you do not have time to attend to classes.

These classes teach us about the different latches, feeding cues, and stomach size.

It is very important to get the first latch properly. This is done immediately in the labor room. My God, I really felt I was in heaven when I felt her lips. What more does a mother want?

And ladies, in case you are attending the classes birthing/ breastfeeding don’t forget to take your husbands. It is extremely necessary they accompany us, not just as moral support, but to get to know and be supportive.

I initially had little struggles with making my daughter feed, I was very worried about it. But, I did not give up. The main thing to focus during this time is not to fall into depression and not to lose hope. I strongly kept saying within me that I can feed my baby, I can satisfy her hunger needs, and I can do it. This positive vibe really did wonders, and slowly I starting seeing changes and feeding time became relaxing for both, me and my baby. Feeding with keeping the baby in the baby carrier was another blessing in this era. Though feeding in public is still a big “WHAT THE” in this society making a lot of heads turn, the carrier made it easier.

As the months passed, I noticed that she needed much more than only milk. That is when I decided to wean. I started with porridge and fruit purees. She had an instant liking. We can start this once the head gets the support and the baby can balance the head-neck. Apple purees, finger millet, and rice porridge were becoming her favourites.

SO, what is BLW or baby led weaning then?

We can start letting the baby taste and feel the textures by giving them small portions. Self-feeding improves hand-eye coordination. Baby learns to swallow, lick, and chew. Once the baby starts sprouting the first tooth, we can offer finger foods like carrots and beans. Take care to not feed nuts/peanuts as it may lead to choking.

Eating with the family is a great practice that can be cultivated as early as 8 months. The baby can watch others eat, so that they get to learn what and how.

And ladies, you can still continue breast feeding until the child is one. Nobody can stop you from that!

Related read : Baby led weaning.