In honor of the week in support of breastfeeding, we talked with Ksenia Soloveya - the founder of the "Milk Rivers of Ukraine", the author of the book "Secrets and Secrets of Breastfeeding"
- “Milk Rivers” was organized in 2003. In May, they celebrated their "majority" - 18 years old.
- Why did you decide to deal with this topic professionally?
- At that time I was a nursing mother. And as a very sociable person by nature, meeting other mothers on a walk, she began to talk to them. And one of the most popular questions was: "Do you breastfeed?" Unfortunately, many said no. Various reasons were named: some did not have enough milk, some were too painful to feed, etc. And I understood that they simply did not know how to feed, they did not have an algorithm for how to act. After all, then, however, as now, there were a lot of myths about breastfeeding, women received many illiterate recommendations. As a result, they lost the opportunity to breastfeed their child.
- How has the situation changed over these 18 years?
- During this time, there were only three cuts, which were made by the UNICEF organization. In 2005, according to their study, only 6% of women fed their babies exclusively with breast milk. In 2008, there were already 8% of such mothers. In 2012 - already 20%. The latest data from our Ministry of Health is almost 60%.
The positive changes are happening due to the fact that more and more quality information about breastfeeding is available. There are also more GW consultants. Milk Rivers alone trained 500 people. But there are also other organizations.
- Ksenia, who did you study with?
- I studied in Moscow, in 2002, at the Rozhana perinatal center with Tsaregradskaya Zhanna Vladimirovna. This is the person who started this story with GW consultants in the post-Soviet space.
- I know that HB counselors volunteer in some maternity hospitals.
- With the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, we stopped doing this. After all, strangers are not allowed into the hospital. But it must be understood that about 30% of maternity hospitals, antenatal clinics have a child-friendly status. This means that the staff of these health facilities have been trained in breastfeeding and can provide quality information about it.
- Unfortunately, in some maternity hospitals, the medical staff offers women in labor to supplement the baby with formula and even bring it to the ward. Such a small "business" is flourishing. I personally came across this.
- Yes, unfortunately, there are such stories. I believe that there should be control from the administration of the maternity hospital, the monitoring center.
- Since hepatitis B counselors are now not allowed into maternity hospitals, how can a woman receive advice on breastfeeding in the first days after childbirth, when she is still in the postpartum ward?
- You can get a paid consultation by phone or messenger. There is also a hotline to support parents after childbirth, and they also answer questions about hepatitis B. There is also a lot of information on the pages of Milk Rivers on social networks, and we answer questions free of charge.
In the first months of a baby's life, it is necessary to apply it to the breast every two hours.
- What are the most popular myths about breastfeeding, please?
- Until now, women "break" their breasts. In maternity hospitals, the mother is offered to take a towel in her teeth so that she does not scream in pain, and they massage her breasts with force. But there is gentle expression, lymphatic drainage massage - all this painlessly helps to prevent milk stagnation. If you "break" the breast, it is fraught with mastitis, and even depression. After all, a woman has already spent a lot of energy during childbirth, she needs to recover, but here she has to endure terrible pain again. Many, after such a "straining" call us and ask: "Do something, I want to stop it all."
Another harmful myth - some mothers believe that because in the first days after giving birth, little milk is released, the baby remains hungry. If he still starts crying and loses weight (after childbirth, weight loss in the region of 10% is considered the norm), a puzzle is formed in the mother's head - the baby is hungry, and she buys the mixture. Accordingly, after that, the baby is less attached to the breast, milk production is less stimulated, less milk is produced, and so lactation is lost.
- Ksenia, please name three breastfeeding whales?
- The first is effective attachment. If you effectively attach the baby to the breast, the mother does not hurt, she sees that the baby is swallowing milk, and when she weighs the baby a week later, the weight gain is at least 125 g. I would also like to draw your attention to the fact that if a child is given a dummy, then you can forget about effective attachment. After all, when he sucks on the nipple, he clenches his jaw. And for effective attachment to the breast, it is important that, on the contrary, he opens his mouth wider in order to capture the areola of the nipple.
The second whale is regular feedings throughout the day. Many people talk about on-demand feeding, and I emphasize that they should be regular. Because sometimes it happens that the baby can sleep soundly and not "require" several hours of milk. But for the first three months, he must feed every two hours during the day. If asks more often, you need to breastfeed more often. But not less often
The third whale is nocturnal feeding. There you need to feed a little differently. One break can be made longer - about 4 hours. For example, from midnight to four in the morning. But then, in the morning, the intervals can be 2 hours.
It will also be interesting for you to read:
When milk "stands": causes, prevention and treatment of lactostasis
