When my oldest daughter was 18 months old, she got chickenpox. She had it very mild, only 10 pimples all over her body, but one of them was right inside her mouth. When she was breastfeeding, the milk stung her little mouth (breast milk has antibiotic properties); it hurt her so much that she didn’t want to breastfeed anymore. So she gave it up suddenly. Within a few hours, she went from everything to nothing. She spent a couple of…
Scar tissue is usually less elastic than undamaged tissue. It can also create adhesions on different levels and affect adjoining and distant organs. In this article, we will discuss how obstetric scars can affect areas as complex as the vulva or when they affect so many layers, as in the case of a C-section scar. Episiotomy Episiotomy is a surgical procedure in which an incision is made in different layers (skin, vaginal mucosa, subcutaneous cellular tissue, and the bulbocavernosus and…
Accompanying mothers who try to conceive during lactation can be a professional challenge. On many occasions, women receive contradictory or frightening messages that make it difficult for them to make decisions regarding their reproductive health. Once again, there is a lack of scientific publications in this field. Lactational amenorrhea A more or less prolonged period of amenorrhea is very common during lactation. According to the scarce literature, it seems that it is very unlikely that when breastfeeding exclusively, ovulation will…
The supplemental nursing system (SNS) is relatively unknown until you need it. We receive many consultations on using a supplemental nursing system (SNS) as a supplementation method during breastfeeding. When we think of a system to supplement milk to a baby, the first thing that comes into mind is usually a baby bottle. So, we have talked in another article about the different types of supplementation methods, and today, we focus on the supplemental nursing system (SNS) and answer the…
For babies, the association between sucking (the breast) and sleep is very powerful. Breastfeeding is so much more for them than just eating and falling asleep with breastfeeding is ideal for them. Sucking gives them pleasure, relaxation, and well-being, and that means they fall asleep quickly and effectively. But then, as they grow up and for different reasons, mothers may feel the need for night weaning or have to wean them at night. And then, depending on the age of…
Much has been written about infant sleep. There is a generalized belief on how infant sleep should be. Often, this is very far from reality. In consultation, you will quickly come across families who are desperate because their children do not sleep through the night or because they wake up often. They ask you what they are doing wrong and how they can get their babies to sleep through in their crib or side sleeper cot. We know that infant…
What is subacute mastitis? We are often contacted by women who, for days or weeks (or even months!), have had a stinging feeling in their nipple, especially at the beginning of the feed and right after it. Sometimes, there is also pain in the breast and a prickling feeling that moves towards the ribs. The nipples are often pinker than usual, and, in some cases, milk blisters or wounds appear that don’t heal or that come and go. All these…
Official maternal and child health guidelines for protecting and promoting breastfeeding recommend maintaining breastfeeding along with complementary food for a minimum of two years. But what happens at this stage? Few mothers know that there is one more hurdle to overcome. More and more mothers reach this milestone in breastfeeding, and then, to their surprise, at two years of the child’s age, awaits the last, unexpected, and final breastfeeding crisis, in what we call the two year breastfeeding crisis. This…
Breast milk donation is not new, whether it is expressed breast milk and given to the infant in a recipient or directly at the breast of someone other than the baby’s mother. Breast milk donation has always existed in the history of humankind. In most countries, the donation of human milk to milk banks for the purpose of feeding premature or sick infants is regulated. This usually happens under the umbrella of a donor bank, either within the hospital where…
One day, we posted a picture on our social media page. It was a little bottle with breast milk, and we asked what color the milk was. Is breast milk white? Who would doubt if milk is white, the sky is blue, the grass is green, and the sun is yellow? Well, sometimes breast milk is not white, and we are not only talking about colostrum, which always has that spectacular yellow to orange color. We are talking about breast…