Pregnancy and lactation: refuse breastfeeding or continue to breastfeed the first child

It would seem that more recently a young happy mother left the hospital with a small bundle in her hands. But after a few months after this joyous event, she realizes that. .. she is waiting for the baby again.

How to be? After all, a newly born baby eats her breast milk with pleasure, and now it turns out that he "deprives" the future brother or sister. Continue breastfeeding or interrupt it? Who should give priority - a little grown up baby or a new, just born life?

Can pregnancy and breastfeeding be combined? Such questions are most often disturbed by nursing mothers who become pregnant a second time.

Can I breastfeed during pregnancy

Breastfeeding and pregnancy can be combined. It is not necessary to immediately wean the baby from the breast. In order to continue to breastfeed during pregnancy, you must follow certain rules.

First of all, mom should take care of her nutrition more carefully than before pregnancy. She must have enough nutrients and for the normal development of the fetus, and for breastfeeding. A pregnant lactating mother can be compared to a mother feeding twins. Ask your doctor about vitamin and mineral supplements.

Try to relax more. Do not give up the help that relatives offer you. With their help you can find extra time for rest.

During pregnancy, the sensitivity of the nipples increases, so that there may be pain in feeding the baby, even if they were not there before. Watch how the baby takes the breast. You may need to help him take the breast properly.

Another thing that will have to be solved is the wearing of the baby on his hands. Try to carry the child on his side or in a sling. If the baby needs to get tired, then learn to do it sitting, not standing up.

Is there a risk of interruption of pregnancy with breastfeeding

During breastfeeding in the pituitary gland of the mother, oxytocin is produced. As you know, this hormone causes contractions of the uterine musculature during labor. However, at least until the middle of pregnancy( before the 20th week), the nerve cells of the myometrium( the muscular layer of the uterus) are insensitive to oxytocin.

Therefore, with a normal pregnancy and a healthy uterus, the real threat of preterm labor during breastfeeding exists only in the third trimester( after 28-30 weeks).Until that time, oxytocin does not cause enough contractions in the uterus.

However, the "gold standard" in obstetrics is the cessation of breastfeeding in the second trimester - no later than 20 weeks. By this time, the amount of milk produced, as a rule, is significantly reduced.

However, if there are complications of pregnancy( the threat of interruption of the present and spontaneous abortions in previous pregnancies, a sharp decrease in the level of hemoglobin of the blood, severe toxicosis, uterine fibroids, etc.), this may serve as an excuse for stopping feeding much earlier - in the first trimester, before the expiration of 12 weeks.

Often the cause of the termination of breastfeeding is the increased sensitivity of the nipples, which develops with a new pregnancy. Someone may be closer to the middle of pregnancy( 18-20 weeks), someone - much earlier, even in its first weeks.

Discontinuation of feeding

In some cases, the baby will still have to stop feeding.

Pregnancy is incompatible with breastfeeding if the mother has a strong early toxicosis. Mom simply does not have enough strength to feed two children.

There are rare cases when the baby has symptoms of toxicosis: it makes him vomiting and there is vomiting. In such cases, the baby also has to wean from the chest.

With the threat of termination of pregnancy, weaning is inevitable.

If the pregnancy has come at an age when the baby is already weaned from the breast, then just speed up the process.

It is better to take the baby out of the breast for 1.5 to 2 months before the birth so that the child can get used to the new situation.

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