Lying down may help breastfeeding

Most women breastfeed in a sitting position

Breastfeeding newborn babies lying down may boost the chances of success, UK research suggests.

A study of 40 mothers breastfeeding in different positions found that babies' natural reflexes kicked in more easily when the mothers were lying down.

The position seemed to trigger primitive reflexes usually seen in young mammals, the Royal College of Nursing conference heard.

Many women struggle with breastfeeding and give up after a few weeks.

Dr Suzanne Colson, senior midwifery lecturer at Canterbury Christ Church University, advises women on a technique called biological nurturing where the mother lies down and lets the baby lie on its tummy on top of her.

When mothers were lying flat or semi-reclined, babies could find the breast easier and in many cases attach themselves and feed whilst asleep Dr Suzanne Colson

To look at whether this technique promotes feeding reflexes in the baby, she video-taped 40 women breastfeeding in a sitting-up position and lying down or reclining in the first month of life.

She spotted 17 reflexes in babies when they were breastfed lying down, including reflexes normally associated with other mammals who feed their babies in this way.

Breastfeeding in a sitting-up position only promoted the three normally seen reflexes - routing, latching and sucking.

Mothers who breastfed lying down seemed to have more success and, although the majority of women in the study had initially reported problems with breastfeeding, after using the technique all the women continued breastfeeding.

Primitive reflexes

Dr Colson said the current study could not prove the technique was more successful than the standard sitting-up position, but it challenged the view that the"correct way" to breastfeed is sitting bolt upright or or lying on your side.

"I found that mothers who breastfed their infants semi-reclined or flat-lying (as opposed to side-lying), in positions that mirrored the feeding positions of other mammals, had the greatest success.

"When mothers were lying flat or semi-reclined, babies could find the breast easier and in many cases attach themselves and feed whilst asleep.

"The research suggests that babies when they are on their tummy display these primitive reflexes, head bobbing in particular, that is seen in other mammals who are abdominal feeders."

She advised mothers to do what feels comfortable.

Dr Peter Carter, general secretary of the Royal College of Nursing, said: "For many new mothers breastfeeding can be difficult and challenging. Not being able to do something which is supposed to be as simple and as natural as feeding their own child can leave many new mothers feeling disappointed and let down.

"By challenging conventional breastfeeding positions this new research could go a long way to helping those mothers who are experiencing difficulties feeding their infants by suggesting other easy-to-adopt positions."

Mr Pat O'Brien, consultant in obstetrics and gynaecology at University College London and spokesperson for the Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, said it would be useful for women to know they can try different positions.

"From a health point of view, there's no reason they couldn't try breastfeeding in that position and we welcome any research that might improve the chances of success.

"Maybe women just have to experiment and find a position that suits them best."

interesting!

Page last updated at 09:00 GMT, Tuesday, 21 April 2009 10:00 UK E-mail this to a friend Printable version

Breastfeeding 'protects mother'

Breastfeeding has been linked to many benefits for babies Women who breastfeed their babies may be lowering their own risk of a heart attack, heart disease or stroke, research suggests. A US study found women who breastfed for more than a year were 10% less likely to develop the conditions than those who never breastfed. Even breastfeeding for at least a month may cut the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. The research features in the journal Obstetrics and Gynaecology. The longer a mother nurses her baby, the better for both of them Dr Eleanor Bimla Schwarz University of Pittsburgh The study adds to a growing body of evidence suggesting breastfeeding has health benefits for both mother and baby. Research has found that breastfeeding reduces a woman's risk of ovarian and breast cancer and osteoporosis in later life. And the list of benefits for the baby is long, with breast milk credited with protecting against obesity, diabetes, asthma and infections of the ear, stomach and chest. The latest US study, by the University of Pittsburgh, focused on nearly 140,000 post-menopausal women. On average, it had been 35 years since the women had last breastfed - suggesting the beneficial impact lasts for decades. As well as cutting the risk of heart problems, breastfeeding for more than a year cut the risk of high blood pressure by 12%, and diabetes and high cholesterol by around 20%. Fat stores It has been suggested that breastfeeding may reduce cardiovascular risk by reducing fat stores in the body. However, the researchers believe the effect is more complex, with the release of hormones stimulated by breastfeeding also playing a role. Researcher Dr Eleanor Bimla Schwarz said: "We have known for years that breastfeeding is important for babies' health; we now know that it is important for mothers' health as well. "Breastfeeding is an important part of the way women's bodies recover from pregnancy. "When this process is interrupted women are more likely to have a number of health problems (including heart attacks and strokes). "The longer a mother nurses her baby, the better for both of them." In the UK, the Department of Health recommends exclusive breastfeeding for six months. June Davison, a cardiac nurse at the British Heart Foundation, said: "Breastfeeding has long been thought to be beneficial to baby and mother. "This research suggests that it might have also have heart health benefits for mum too. "However, it only showed an association between breast feeding and these health benefits. We will need further research to understand why this is the case."

interesting info!

Breastfeeding may help to offset early disadvantages

26 March 2009
Breastfeeding may be particularly important to the educational and emotional development of children from single-parent and low-income families, new research suggests.
Previous studies have reported that the high nutritional content of breast milk can increase a baby's IQ. Other research has found that breastfed children are at an advantage because their mothers are, on average, better-off and more articulate.

However, a new study from the Institute of Education, London, which involved 1,136 mothers, strengthens the argument that breastfeeding is also associated with more positive parenting practices that can continue beyond infancy.

Researchers who analysed the behaviour of mothers reading a storybook to their one-year-old children found that, on average, those who breastfed made more effort to engage their infants in the book than mothers who bottle-fed. In general, mothers with more positive attitudes towards breastfeeding also appeared to have a warmer relationship with their babies.

The greatest differences in behaviour were between two groups of single and low-income mothers – those who breastfed for between 6 and 12 months, and those who bottle-fed. Poorer women who breastfed interacted with their babies during the book-reading exercise almost as well as more advantaged mothers did. However, low-income mothers who bottle-fed their babies tended to communicate with them much less well than other mothers, the researchers say.

Marital status had no effect on the quality of a mother's interaction with her child, provided she had breastfed for 6 to 12 months. In fact, single mothers who had breastfed for this period made slightly more effort than other mothers to explain the storybook to their child.

A repeat experiment four years later found that mothers who had been on a low income when their child was one, but had breastfed for more than six months, had a higher quality of interaction with their five-year-old than other mothers. They also made more effort to engage their child in the book-reading exercise than mothers who had not breastfed. By contrast, breastfeeding appeared to have no lasting effect on the parenting behaviours of married and higher-income mothers.

The report's principal author, Dr Leslie Gutman, research director of the Institute's Centre for Research on the Wider Benefits of Learning, says that the age five findings underscore the "protective" influence of breastfeeding for lone parent and low-income families. Future studies should investigate the processes behind the findings, she suggests. Researchers should attempt to establish, for example, whether skin-to-skin contact forms stronger bonds between breastfed infants and their mothers which, in turn, lead to more positive parenting practices.
Dr Gutman also says that the findings provide support for government policies that encourage breastfeeding, particularly for more disadvantaged mothers. "Mothers in such challenging circumstances may face more obstacles to breastfeeding, especially for a longer period of time," she points out. "They may lack role models and encouragement, or they may be under greater pressure to return to work when their child is still very young."
If a mother works on a short-term casual basis, or is an agency worker, she may not qualify for maternity leave, and if she earns less than £90 per week, on average, she does not qualify for Statutory Maternity Pay. This may act as an incentive to stop breastfeeding and return to work as soon as possible, the study says.

"New mothers, particularly in deprived communities, may therefore require more than information leaflets," the researchers comment. "Rather, interventions that offer early and ongoing support and encouragement to manage breastfeeding may be needed: this may come from financial support in order to enable a delay in return to work and/or workplace nurseries where mothers can visit and breastfeed their babies during the day. Meanwhile, campaigns such as 'Be a star', run by Blackpool Primary Care Trust (PCT) and North Lancashire Teaching PCT to provide role models for young mothers, may be a way of highlighting the issue."
The Institute of Education research, which was funded by the Department for Children, Schools and Families, is based on a new analysis of previously unreported data that were originally collected as part of the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children in the mid-1990s.

Dr Gutman and her colleagues also found that mothers with extensive social networks interacted with their infants more positively, on average, than mothers with more limited social circles. "At a community level, the finding implies that the networking and social interactions that go on between parents in children's centres, early-years settings, community groups and many other community venues, such as libraries, and health and leisure centres, are of great value," they say.

Efforts to improve maternal health could also help to build parenting capabilities as post-natal depression impairs communication between mother and child, the researchers add.

Nurturing parenting capability: the early years, by Leslie Gutman, John Brown and Rodie Akerman, can be downloaded from the website of the Centre for Research on the Wider Benefits of Learning http://www.learningbenefits.net from 9.30 am today.

Further information:

David Budge
Centre for Research on the Wider Benefits of Learning
Institute of Education, University of London
d.budge@ioe.ac.uk
(off) 020 7911 5349
(mob) 07881 415362

Notes for editors:

1. The Centre for Research on the Wider Benefits of Learning was set up in 1999 by the then Department for Education and Employment and receives funding from a number of public and private bodies. Its recent research reports can be downloaded from its website http://www.learningbenefits.net. The Institute of Education is a college of the University of London, specialising in teaching, research and consultancy in education and related areas of social science and professional practice.

2. The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children is an ongoing research project. To be eligible for the study, mothers not only had to be living in Avon while pregnant, their expected date of delivery had to lie between April 1, 1991 and December 31, 1992, inclusive. The observational measure of parenting that was used – the Thorpe Interaction Measure – examines both the warmth of the mother towards her child and her teaching behaviours when asked to read with her child.

3. The most recent Infant Feeding Survey, conducted in 2005, indicates that mothers in England are more likely to breastfeed than mothers in other UK countries. The initial breastfeeding rates were 78 per cent in England, 70 per cent in Scotland, 67 per cent in Wales, and 63 per cent in Northern Ireland. This fell to 48 per cent of all mothers in the UK by the time the baby was six weeks old, and 25 per cent at six months. Prevalence of breastfeeding was highest among mothers from managerial and professional occupations, those with the highest education levels, those aged 30 or over, and those from minority ethnic groups.

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First Post!

Hello everyone! This is my first post here at Blogger.

Breastfeeding is very important to me and i feel it is important to get the message out there that it is really the best, healthiest way to feed your baby. Breastfeeding provides a host of benefits to both the mother and the child.
The American Academy of Pediatrics has issued a policy statement that strongly supports breastfeeding. Now, the AAP has joined a long list of organizations, including the World Health Organization that strongly support breastfeeding.
Some of the benefits to baby include:
Fewer ear infections
Protects against Asthma
Protects against MS
Higher IQ
Fewer allergies
Breastfed babies are sweeter smelling and have less constipation

Benefits for mom:
A closer bond with baby
No heating up or preparing formula
Protects against breast cancer
Protects against post partum depression.

In my next blog i will be talking about formula and how very unlike breastmilk it really is.

Thanks for reading!

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