Glow Clinic

03 9769 5606

Optimise your mind, body and GLOW

Blog Index

Learning about breastfeeding during pregnancy benefits babies and mothers

GLOW Lactation Consultant Beck Heine developed GLOW’s Antenatal Breastfeeding Education & shares why couples should learning about breastfeeding during pregnancy.

Breastfeeding has many benefits for both babies’ and mothers’ physical and emotional health.

Some benefits are noticeable in infancy; others may be lifelong.  There is a growing body of research to support this.

For babies:

  • Breastfeeding can reduce the risk and severity of respiratory diseases, ear infections and allergies.Breastfeeding can also reduce the incidence of SIDS and childhood cancer.
  • Breastfed babies also have better eyesight, speech and brain development is optimised and the risk of developing Insulin-Dependent (Type 1) Diabetes Mellitus in childhood is reduced.
  • There is emerging research that suggests that breastfeeding may also reduce the risk of children becoming overweight or obese – the longer that a baby/child is breastfed, the lesser the risk.
There is also emerging evidence showing breastfeeding has positive effects on an infant’s microbiome and gut health, with possible lifelong effects.

For mothers studies show that:

  • Breastfeeding lowers the risk of: Ovarian Cancer, Breast Cancer after menopause, developing Osteoporosis and developing Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus.
  • Breastfeeding is associated with better emotional health, including less depression and anxiety; and may enhance couple and family relationships.

The World Health Organisation recommends that infants should be exclusively breastfed from birth to six months and then breastfed alongside age-appropriate, complementary feeding for two years and beyond. Unfortunately, some new mothers stop breastfeeding earlier than they intended.

Although more studies are needed, studies show that compared with routine care, antenatal breastfeeding education increases breastfeeding initiation rates, and duration of breastfeeding.

GLOW Lactation Consultant Beck Heine is a Registered Midwife and International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC).

Beck developed and facilitates our Antenatal Breastfeeding Education at GLOW 

  •  Small group evening sessions on the 3rd Wednesday of the month at 7pm, and run for about 1.5 hours. Complimentary refreshments available. $80 per couple
  • Private sessions, up to 1 hour,  tailored to your individual needs, at a time that suits. This session may also include a written breastfeeding plan to take to hospital when you give birth. $120 per couple

To book please contact GLOW Reception Team on 03 9769 5606 or Contact us here

 

Only one image could be used in this Blog.  We acknowledge that the image used is not representative of all families or all parents. GLOW Clinic welcomes and supports all families.

 

References

Antenatal breastfeeding education for increasing breastfeeding duration Pisake Lumbiganon, Ruth Martis, Malinee Laopaiboon, Mario R Festin, Jacqueline J Ho, and Mohammad Hakimi Cochrane Database Syst Rev, volume 9 on page CD006425, 2011.

The CDC Guide to Breastfeeding Interventions Shealy KR, Li R, Benton-Davis S, Grummer-Strawn LM. Atlanta: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2005.

Overview of recent reviews of interventions to promote and support breastfeeding A NSW Centre for Public Health Nutrition project for NSW Health, prepared by Debra Hector, Lesley King and Karen Webb, 2004