Breastfeeding Difficulties - Breastfeeding

Breastfeeding

While breastfeeding difficulties are not uncommon, putting the baby to the breast as soon as possible after birth helps to avoid many problems. The policy of the American Academy of Pediatrics on breastfeeding says, "delay weighing, measuring, bathing, needle-sticks, and eye prophylaxis until after the first feeding is completed." Many breastfeeding difficulties can be resolved with proper hospital procedures, properly trained nurses and hospital staff, speech pathologists and lactation consultants.

Several factors can interfere with successful breastfeeding:

• Formula feeding
• Artificial teats (nipples) or dummies (pacifiers)
• Thrush
• Distractions or interruptions during feeds
• Long separations from the mother
• Tachypnea (rapid breathing) such as in transient tachypnea of the newborn, surfactant deficiency, respiratory distress syndrome or other infant medical conditions
• Presence of an actual physical barrier between mother and infant
• Swallowing difficulties such as with prematurity and coordination of sucking, swallowing and breathing, or gastro-intestinal tract abnormalities like tracheo-oesophageal fistula.
• Pain resulting from surgical procedures like circumcision, blood tests, or vaccinations.
• Difficulties latching onto the breast
• Poor sucking reflex
• Hypoplastic Breasts/Insufficient Glandular Tissue
• Agalactia (absence of lactation)
• Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome
• Diabetes
• Severe maternal stressors
• Insufficient rest/support of the mother during the first 6 weeks post-partum
• Early return to work due to lack of financial support/maternity leave of mother
• Cleft palate
• Ankyloglossia (tongue tie)
• Hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia
• Hypotonia, or "low-tone" infant disorder
• Hyperlactation syndrome
• Overactive let-down
• Oversupply of breast milk with or without an overactive let-down.
• Premature babies can have difficulties coordinating their sucking reflex with breathing. They may also tire during feeds. Premature infants unable to take enough calories by mouth may need enteral or gavage feeding - inserting a feeding tube into the stomach to provide enough breast milk or a substitute. This is often done together with Kangaroo care (prolonged skin-to-skin contact with the mother) which makes later breastfeeding easier. For some suckling difficulties, such as may happen with cleft lip/palate, the baby can be fed with a Haberman Feeder.
• Dysphoric Milk Ejection Reflex (D-MER) is a newly recognized condition affecting lactating women that is characterized by an abrupt dysphoria, or negative emotions that occur just before milk release and continuing not more than a few minutes. Preliminary testing tells us that D-MER is treatable and preliminary research tells us that inappropriate dopamine activity at the time of the milk ejection reflex is the cause of D-MER.