Breastfeeding-Jan-2010

January 2010

Colusa Regional Medical Center, Caring for Our Community

Breastfeeding: A Healthy Choice

According to HealthDay News following pregnancy, diabetic women need to continue careful monitoring of their blood glucose levels as their bodies adjust to postpartum hormonal changes, disturbed sleep and other changes in the daily routine. The American Diabetes Association says breastfeeding can make it more difficult to manage blood glucose. It offers these suggestions;

Make sure you have something to eat before you nurse or while you're nursing.
Drink plenty of fluids each day. It's a good idea to drink water or another non-caffeinated drink while nursing.
Keep something to counter low blood glucose next to you while you nurse, so you don't have to interrupt baby's meal if your blood glucose becomes low.
Work with your dietitian and your doctor to adjust your diet plan while breastfeeding, which does burn calories and can affect blood glucose.

But HealthDay News also reports that the benefits of breastfeeding continue to accumulate as researchers evaluate the breast-over-bottle option. This source reports that breast milk is loaded with health-promoting nutrients. "It's not just one mechanism," said Melinda Johnson, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, a lecturer in nutrition at Arizona State University and a dietitian in private practice in Chandler, Ariz. Breast milk also has been shown to jump-start a baby's immune system, and researchers think that's due at least in part to a protein found in breast milk. Called soluble CD14, it helps develop beta cells, a type of immune cell that helps produce antibodies, which are needed to protect against illnesses.

More than 200 babies are born at Colusa Regional Medical Center (CRMC) each year. That may seem like a high number of births for a rural hospital, but for CRMC Obstetrics (OB) Manager Kathy Lopez, she looks at the quality not the quantity of the birthing experience here. Lopez also commented that more mothers are once again becoming aware breastfeeding is a healthy choice for their babies. She said that she is seeing more mothers leaving the hospital breastfeeding exclusively.

Lopez explained that obstetrics goes far beyond birth and delivery at CRMC, and that one of the beauties of a small rural hospital is that the patients often know the staff. She said the OB staff at CRMC is also involved in birthing education and monitoring high risk pregnancies. They are responsible for antepartum testing and for instance will see an expectant diabetic mother twice weekly to monitor her health status. “This gives us an opportunity to get to know the mothers and it is an education opportunity as well,” she said.

She and the OB staff encourage family-centered care. “We try to involve the whole family in the birthing process,” she said. At CRMC the ‘dads’ are encouraged to coach the mothers while in labor and delivery, cut the umbilical cord after the birth and remain to bond with the baby and the mother. Lopez said that once the baby has arrived it is placed skin to skin with the mother and the father stays to touch the baby and the mother. “It is the first bonding time for the family,” she said. Siblings, when age appropriate, can be present. At CRMC there are private rooms and the babies stay in the room with the mothers. CRMC and Lopez, a certified lactation counselor, encourages and assist mothers with breastfeeding.

Colusa Regional Medical Center is an equal opportunity employer and provider.