Ardomom Blog

The first few hours after birth are very important for the start of your breastfeeding relationship because the rooting and sucking reflexes are especially pronounced at this time. The breastfeeding relationship gets off to the best start if the baby is placed naked on mum’s stomach after birth and stays there until she sucks at the breast. Sometimes babies even move towards the breast by themselves and take it without being helped by anyone.

You can place your baby in different positions for a feed. You can keep changing them over the course of breastfeeding. It is important to find a relaxed, comfortable position for yourself.

Almost every mum can breastfeed her baby. But uncertainty, incorrect information or fear can sometimes cause brand-new mums to doubt their own ability to breastfeed. During pregnancy many mums are not fully aware that breastfeeding starts immediately after the birth and that it is a skill that also needs to be learnt.

You don’t have to wean your baby early just because you’re going back to work. In fact this is a very good reason to carry on breastfeeding. Your baby will miss you when you aren’t there and breastfeeding will satisfy her need to be close to you. However, a certain amount of organisation is called for. It is important to tell your employer early on that you intend to carry on breastfeeding. Ask whether it will be possible to breastfeed at your workplace or to leave the workplace in order to breastfeed or whether you can work from home or express breast milk at your workplace.

Sometimes it can be necessary to use a breastpump, for instance, if a newborn baby only sucks very weakly from the breast so that milk production is not adequately stimulated. Regular pumping can also build up and maintain milk production if mum and baby are separated, e.g. when you return to work or the baby is premature or ill. You can carry on feeding your baby with your precious breast milk and will be better able to continue breastfeeding at a later date.

The latest publications on the subject describe three ways to increase the amount of milk when pumping.

The main difference is between manual and electric breastpumps. An electric breastpump is a good idea if you’ll be expressing milk often.

The more hygienic the pumping process, the longer the breast milk can be stored.

Every newborn baby is a separate individual with her own sleep-wake rhythm. And even the timing …

During breastfeeds a baby experiences a great deal of skin and body contact, security and attention. To make sure that a bottle-fed baby also experiences this closeness it is a good idea to pay attention to the following points.

However clever natural processes seem, people are not machines, and are subject to many different influences. Most couples do not conceive straight away. Many factors have now been identified which can influence fertility, and there are therefore a whole range of things which you can do to help nature along.

Being pregnant is a wonderful thing but it brings with it a few discomforts such as tightness, itching and stretch marks. The skin, particularly on the stomach, hips, thighs, upper arms and breasts, is subject to extreme stretching during pregnancy. It is this stretching that causes stretch marks – fine fissures in the muscle fibres of the subcutaneous tissue.

New mothers are often worried about whether they can make enough breast milk. If the baby is healthy and growing well, everything is probably okay. Your breasts produce milk based on supply and demand and if you breastfeed your baby on demand, you will naturally make the right amount of milk.

You are certainly looking forward to your due date with anticipation. But particularly when you are a first-time mum, you probably have many questions. How do I recognise contractions? What can I even expect during labour? It is completely normal if your excitement is mixed with nervousness and fear.