News

Everyone Can Support Breastfeeding Moms

Posted 8/12/24 (Mon)

This year’s theme for World Breastfeeding Week (August 1-7) was ‘Closing the Gap: Breastfeeding Support for All,’ so we sat down with Holly Hitland, LPN, one of our Certified Breastfeeding Specialists (CBS) in the Mother’s Lounge of our new obstetrics unit, to learn more about how family and community members can make a huge difference in supporting local moms who choose to breastfeed. Holly started working with Mobridge Regional Hospital and Clinics in 1999 as a transcriptionist. Since then, she’s worked in the clinics in Mobridge and McLaughlin, and in the marketing department. She got her LPN at the age of 41 and has been working in that capacity since then. She loves being a nurse and shared that she wanted to be “a Dori Vojta” even as a little girl. She loves obstetrics and assisting with deliveries.

The new Mother’s Lounge serves a dual purpose. It gives hospital and clinic employees a designated area that they can pump while they are at work, and it’s also used to support new mom and baby pairs who are working on breastfeeding. Holly described how she had recently seen a mom and newborn in the room. The new mom was worried she wasn’t producing enough milk. Holly weighed the baby and then had the mom nurse the baby for 5-10 minutes. After she was done, Holly weighed the baby again, and she was 3 mg heavier. “A milligram equals a milliliter of milk—so mom was able to go home confident that she got 3 ml of milk into her baby. It’s so fun to show moms--see you are producing something, and your body is doing what you’re hoping it’s doing.”

If breastfeeding is going to be successful, new moms must feel encouraged and reassured in those first several days. “Moms get so nervous about making enough milk. Your best pump is your baby—way better than a breast pump or hand expression. That baby’s belly the first 1-3 days of life is the size of a dime.” A lot of moms don’t realize this and get anxious that their baby isn’t getting enough to eat. While our CBS work with new moms here at the hospital to give them support in those first three days, new moms also need family and community members to be reassuring, patient and offer support, especially in those first several weeks.

Household Members

“It’s so important that other people in the household with the new mom are a strong support network,” Holly explains, “Milk has all the antibodies in it, and breastmilk will change and somehow the body is knowledgeable, and says I need to give the baby more of this, and that milk will almost be like medication to help babies heal. You’ll see the color and consistency of your milk change based on what the baby needs—more fat, more liquids, etc. Breastfeeding has even been shown to reduce the risk of SIDS.”

A significant other or other family member can change the diapers, prepare and wash bottles, or take older kids to do fun things so they don’t feel forgotten. Getting up in the middle of the night and bringing the baby to mom for night feedings so she can remain comfortable might not seem like much, but it can be a huge relief for the new mother. Giving her a massage, ensuring she has a comfortable, quiet and private area for breastfeeding, and helping equip her with supplies that will make feedings easier, like pillows, water and snacks are other great ways to show you care. For those closest to the situation, it’s also helpful to educate yourself to recognize signs of problems like mastitis or latching issues and encourage and assist mom in making postpartum follow-up appointments as needed.

Friends and Neighbors

Whether you are a neighbor or friend in the community, helping a new mom with some of the household chores that are usually her responsibility, like dropping off a meal so she doesn’t have to cook, shoveling her sidewalk, or offering to take her older children to go do something fun together, can help minimize household stress and give her the support she needs to focus on breastfeeding and bonding with the new baby. Another great option? Offer to watch the baby for a night so mom and dad can go on a date. As hard as it sometimes is for a new mom to leave her baby, continuing to invest time in your relationship with your significant other greatly reduces the potential for resentment on both sides of the relationship.

It's also important for those that want to be there for a breastfeeding woman to educate themselves a little bit about breastfeeding so you better understand what she’s going through. If you are a friend, she might express her concerns and frustrations to you, and just listening actively without judgement is a gift. Also—encourage her to take time for herself when possible. We tend to focus on caring for the new baby, but mom and baby are a unit—we shouldn’t leave her out.

Community Members

Creating welcoming spaces for breastfeeding moms is one way community members and leaders can support breastfeeding moms. “If you are uncomfortable with someone breastfeeding in front of you, it’s best if you just get up and walk away,” says Holly. “The mom’s already having trouble, this baby is screaming, needing to be fed, she has no better options, and she’s in a public place—and think about it as yourself: when you are hungry, you like to eat! So why should this mom have to go sit on a toilet in this restaurant, and feed her infant in private? Just turn around, don’t look. She’ll do her best to keep herself covered, but the baby just needs to eat.”

Some communities are creating designated nursing areas in parks, libraries, and community centers. You see feeding stations becoming more common in airports. “Maybe the community members that have a problem with breastfeeding in public need to think about how women are made to do this and start thinking about the female body in a different way,” offers Holly.

It's also important to encourage breastfeeding-friendly workplace policies. If new moms are going to go back to work and continue breastfeeding, they need adequate break times and a private, comfortable space to pump. “I know some jobs are difficult that you can’t get away to do that pump, because unfortunately most of us do have to go back to work even though we are nursing moms, so we’ll help you figure out a way to do that too.” As a coworker, you can help if you see a mom struggling to get away at her normal break times. “Say, ‘what can I do so you can go pump? Let me take something off your plate so you can get out of here,’” suggests Holly.

Raising awareness about the needs of breastfeeding moms helps too—whether it’s using signage that indicates breastfeeding-friendly areas and shows support for breastfeeding moms in public spaces, organizing a donation drive to collect breastfeeding supplies for mothers in need, or using posters or social media campaigns to encourage inclusion and support of breastfeeding moms.

Holly urges moms to call if they need some support. “Whether you deliver here or not, or it’s your first baby or fourth, we are here to help. Call the Nurses Station at 605-845-8111 and just say, ‘I’m needing some help from one of your breastfeeding specialists.’ Lindsay, Cathy, Callie and I are all here to help. And if you call that number and none of us are here, have the nurse here contact one of us and we will call you back. We are happy to help. It’s just so important to us.”