What if I can’t or don’t want to breastfeed?

Breastfeeding is the ideal food for the baby during the first months of life. However, the ultimate decision to breastfeed the baby rests with the mother.

Artificial lactation

Giving can be due to three main causes:

There are women who find it difficult to breastfeed. Some moms cope with the extreme dependence that originates on the baby with exclusive breastfeeding and seek more practical solutions from their point of view.

Babies who take a bottle do so every three hours, on the other hand, breastfed babies do not respect these schedules and ask to breastfeed more often. Given this rate, many people believe that the cause is that the child is hungry and that the mother does not have enough milk. This is not always false, but it is most of the time. In fact, sometimes the baby is not gaining weight and is even losing and the mother has almost overflowing milk, thus being a suction, position or sublingual frenulum problem that makes it difficult to express milk.

In other cases, milk production may be less than expected and make it difficult for the baby to feed. This situation is called hypogalactia or low milk production.

The causes of hypogalactia are rare and can be summarized as:

• Very important emotional stress: stress decreases prolactin, which is the hormone that produces milk.
• Undiagnosed hypothyroidism: the woman, not knowing that she has a thyroid disorder, produces less milk. Once the problem is treated, milk production returns to normal.
• Retention of the placenta: when the placenta is delivered it is the starting gun to start producing milk. If a part of the placenta remains inside the uterus, the hormonal changes necessary to produce milk do not occur.
• Agenesis of breast tissue: occurs when the breast tissue does not mature enough during pregnancy. It is a very rare condition.
• Previous breast surgery: usually depends on the type of surgery performed.
• Sheehan syndrome: it is the necrosis of the pituitary or part of it due to lack of blood supply during childbirth, usually because the woman has lost a lot of blood. As prolactin and oxytocin are not produced, milk cannot be created.
• Prolactin deficiency: the mother has a congenital deficiency of this hormone. It is a very rare condition.

In many cases, not being able to breastfeed as utopianly had been thought during pregnancy, can generate a feeling of guilt and disappointment in the woman.

There are very few cases in which breastfeeding is contraindicated. These residual cases may be due to newborn problems or maternal problems.

• Metabolic diseases: galactosemia, acrid syrup urine disease (phenylketonuria).
• Maternal problems: maternal drug and alcohol addiction, cancer chemotherapy, radioactive treatments or procedures, AIDS, maternal severe malnutrition, maternal severe psychiatric illness, active TB, breast cancer.

Each woman decides whether or not she wants to breastfeed her child. Being a personal decision, it must be respected by all. The mother should not be blamed, as being a mother is much more than breastfeeding.

Today milk for infants are marketed whose nutritional profile is similar to that of breast milk, being very well tolerated by the baby and with the assurance that it will grow without problems. Let your pediatrician advise you on which milk is best for your baby.

WILL I BE ABLE TO CREATE A STRONG LINK WITH MY BABY IF I DO NOT BREAST?

Of course yes. Breastfeeding is a great way to strengthen the connection between mom and baby, but.

At meal times, pick him up close to you and look into his eyes. You can even hold it in the same position as you would to breastfeed, with your skin in direct contact with the baby's. Try to change the position with each feed: one feed on the right arm and the next on the left, mimicking the changes in posture of the breastfed baby.

The relationship with the baby will not be based solely on the ability to breastfeed. The way you respond to his needs, his crying, how often you hold him and play with him, and how you are as a mother in general matter much more than how you feed him.

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW

• Not being able to breastfeed can cause a woman to feel guilty and disappointed.
• To breastfeed or not to breastfeed is a personal decision of each mother.
• There are cases in which breastfeeding is contraindicated.

DID YOU KNOW…?

In the case of wanting the baby to be fed breast milk, there are breast milk banks in Spain that provide it. In order to be informed, you can consult the.