As a mother of two young children, including an infant, I have considered the possibilities of emergency preparedness when it comes to how my baby will be fed in times of emergency. I’ve decided that breastfeeding your baby from the beginning is the best and safest option for parents when planning for their emergencies based on economic cost, the quality of nutrition, and the safety of breast milk when water quality is questionable. I have experience as a breastfeeding counselor and help mothers learn and prepare for nursing their babies on a daily basis. I have made a list of how mothers can best prepare to have success with breastfeeding as a part of their family’s emergency preparedness plan.
There are several ways moms can get a good start with learning to nurse her baby. Some of these include:
- Breastfeed right after birth. It is best to nurse within the first hour of birth, preferably with skin-to-skin contact. Mothers should also consider the environment they are birthing in. Is it a hospital that encourages breastfeeding? Do you have a certified nurse midwife? Is there a lactation consultant available? These are important considerations when planning a successful beginning to breastfeeding. There are many options for mothers to consider, and it’s not my place to say what is “best” but only that it does matter.
- Watch for baby’s signs of hunger, instead of the clock. Sometimes nurses will tell you to feed every two hours, however every baby is different and you should nurse on-demand instead of timing feedings. Two hours is a minimum amount, and most babies will want to nurse more frequently. It is also important not to let your baby sleep all the time and make sure they are nursing often. A very sleepy baby could be a sign of trouble that needs to be looked at by their doctor.
- Breastfeeding is “Supply and Demand” The more you nurse, the more milk you will make. Many new mothers have a hard time believing they are making enough milk because they are unable to measure it in a bottle, but the vast majority of women are capable of making plenty of milk for their babies; it is very rare for a mother to truly not be able to produce enough.
- Get support from your family, friends, and support groups. There are breastfeeding support groups in many communities. La Leche League is a great one, and they are all over the world. Husbands, partners and friends should know to offer support instead of telling the mother to “just give them some formula” when things get difficult. If a serious problem occurs, there are lactation consultants who can offer solutions.
- Don’t set yourself up to fail. New moms sometimes receive formula, bottles, pacifiers and breast pumps for baby shower gifts from well-meaning friends and family. All these things can set a mother up to fail in those harder early weeks of learning to breastfeed. An exhausted mother may see a cupboard full of formula and give in while she is tired and has sore nipples, thus setting herself up for supply issues. Because making milk is supply and demand, every ounce of formula given to a baby is telling her body to make that much less breast milk. Sooner or later there will not be enough to meet the demands of the infant and he or she would be fully formula fed (this is not always the case, but I find it happens all too often).
The major reason women stop breastfeeding, in my experience with working with new moms, is lack of information and support. It is critical that mothers receive support from their family, especially their husbands/partners, if they are to be successful. Often fathers want to feed the baby themselves and they believe that this would be helping the mother and so they can bond with their baby. This is not necessary for helping mother and bonding, and can, in fact, be harmful to the nursing relationship. It is important in the early weeks to not give a newborn baby a bottle because they can develop what is called “nipple confusion” or “nipple preference.” Rubber/artificial nipples and mother’s nipples are very different. Babies must work at getting milk from their mother, whereas with an artificial nipple the milk flows out. Some babies may prefer the milk that flows out because they don’t have to work for it, this can and does cause babies to stop nursing and only accept milk from a bottle. Parents who want their baby to be able to take a bottle and still nurse should wait 4-6 weeks before introducing a bottle or pacifier to their baby in order to avoid this.
Now that you know some ways to get a good start with breastfeeding, here are some reasons why it is important to include breastfeeding in your emergency preparedness plan for your infant.
- Formula is expensive, breast milk is free! In times of economic hardship breastfeeding is the very most economical way to feed an infant. Even in disaster situations where formula companies are more than willing to give free formula to babies in need, mothers will eventually find that when the formula runs out, so has their breast milk! Continuing to nurse, even with free formula around, is ensuring that your baby will have adequate nutrition as long as he or she is nursing.
- Breast milk provides complete nutritional needs for infants. Breast fed babies do not need anything but mother’s milk for the first six months of life. After six months solid foods can be introduced, but babies should still be getting most of their nutrition from breast milk until the first year. The World Health Organization believes that all children of the world, both in third world countries and developed countries, should be breast fed until age two and then as long as the mother and child want to continue beyond the age of two. That may sound like a long time to most Americans, but it is very normal to breastfeed past two years in many parts of the world.
- Breast milk is sanitary, and it provides immunities to prevent illness. In times where water supplies are scarce or contaminated, breast milk is the safest option for infant feeding. Formula needs to be mixed with clean water in sanitized bottles. If there is not enough clean water or fuel to sanitize the water, the baby may be put at risk for illness. Furthermore, breast milk contains important antibodies to keep the child as healthy as possible during these times.
It is also noteworthy that lactating mothers require slightly more calorie intake than non-lactating mothers. This is approximately 500 extra calories a day. Lactating mothers should also consider a prenatal multivitamin for the duration of breastfeeding. Therefore, it would be wise to plan food storage accordingly.
There are a couple book recommendations that pregnant and lactating mothers might want to purchase or check out from the library. My favorite “How-To” books are, “The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding” by La Leche League and “The Breastfeeding Book” by Martha Sears.
I hope that families who are expecting a child, either now or someday in the future, consider this article as a helpful incentive to breastfeed their babies. There are so many reasons to breastfeed and emergency preparedness is just one of the many, but should absolutely be taken into consideration when planning for your family’s needs for any potential disaster; economic, natural, or otherwise.
About the author: Lizzy is a La Leche League Leader and breastfeeding peer counselor, as well as a mother with personal breastfeeding experience. She is in the process of completing her clinical hours to become an IBCLC certified lactation consultant.