01 Sep 2010
Young mother Lim Chay Mien never had second thoughts about breastfeeding her children. “Every mother in my family breastfeeds,” said Madam Lim, who recently gave birth to her second son, Shan Kai, at Singapore General Hospital (SGH).
“I stopped breastfeeding my first baby when he was five months old. With Shan Kai, I want to breastfeed him until he is at least one year old,” said Mdm Lim, adding that breastfeeding “is simply the most natural way I know of bonding with both my sons”.
Mdm Lim’s plan to breastfeed her son for a longer time has plenty of support from staff of SGH’s Departments of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, and Neonatal and Developmental Medicine.
Six months ago, a group of specialists and nurses from the departments initiated a project to promote breastfeeding within the first hour of birth. Since then, SGH has seen breastfeeding among mothers almost double to 86 per cent.
More importantly, the number of new borns who begin latching on to their mothers and suckling within the first hour of birth has gone up to 69 per cent from 16 per cent. Parents are also happier that they can bond with their newborns in the labour ward.
Releasing the love hormone
“Studies have shown that mothers find it easier to care for, breastfeed and bond with their babies if they latch the baby on to the breast within the first hour after delivery,” said Dr Varsha Atul Shah, Consultant, Department of Neonatal and Developmental Medicine, SGH.
“Contact with the baby triggers the release of a hormone known as oxytocin from the pituitary glands, which we call the ‘love hormone’ or ‘feel-good hormone’.
It helps the mother produce more milk, get back into shape faster and encourages the baby to breastfeed. Oxytocin also reduces the chance of the mother having post-natal depression. The first eye-to-eye contact provides meaningful communication between the mother and newborn at close range,” said Dr Varsha.
For Dr Varsha, who comes from India, the merits of breastfeeding – and breastfeeding within the first hour – are so well understood that the low numbers of mothers who breastfeed today came as a big surprise, especially when compared with just a decade ago. In the 1990s, about 60per cent of mothers breastfed, she said.
Together with colleagues, Senior Staff Nurse Neo Ah Hoe and Nurse Manager Ong Siow Cheng, Dr Varsha led a team to look into the reasons mothers did not breastfeed, and how breastfeeding can be encouraged.
Changing mindsets
From surveys, the team, named O&G Snipers, found that post-delivery procedures left little time for staff to preach the benefits of breastfeeding. Staff were preoccupied with fundamental tasks such as cleaning the baby, keeping the baby warm, and giving the exhausted mother adequate rest by sending the baby straight to the nursery and on to formula milk.
“Allowing the mothers to take time to bond and latch their babies is a vital, intuitive step that was missing,” said Dr Varsha.
Free formula milk from milk formula companies did nothing to ease the challenges faced by the team.
“The milk bottle teat makes it easy for babies to suck. Once they get used to it, sucking a mother’s nipple takes more effort and they don’t want to do it,” said Ms Ong, who added that convenience is often a reason mothers give when they switch to formula milk.
To change the mindset of both staff and mothers, and raise awareness of the importance of the early first latch and breastfeeding, O&G Snipers conducted lectures to educate staff, and added a new guideline into post-delivery procedures.
“Once a baby has latched on, the nurses are instructed not to give the baby any formula milk, till the baby cries to be fed,” said Dr Varsha.
“Our guidelines changed the way nurses and mothers relate to the newborn.
Nurses must now allow time for the mother and baby to bond,” said Ms Ong.
The project, which won a National Improvement Quality Circles Convention award in June, was bolstered by the enthusiasm of newly graduated midwives eager to put their skills and knowledge to use.
“The very first time I latched my baby, the nurses were around checking to make sure I was doing it properly,” said Mdm Lim, herself a nurse.
“The first latch is always a very beautiful and intense experience for both the mother and the newborn. When Shan Kai latched on, I felt this indescribable connection between us,” she said.
Click here for jpeg format
« Back to previous
page
back to top