MotherBreastFeeding.com

The main cause of anemia in a newborn is iron deficiency. If your child's hemoglobin level slightly decreases, take it easy to buy special drugs. You'd better consider some hints for mothers.

Try to breastfeed. Mother's milk contains up to 50% of iron, which no other product can contain. Meat is characterized by the greatest absorption level, which is 23%.

If you choose formulas, be sure to compile a diet plan for your baby. Vitamin C, apple and milk acids (citruses, fruits, soul-milk products) contribute to better iron absorption. A child who gets 30 g of meat a day has a higher hemoglobin level than the one who gets only 10 g of meat.

Try to avoid giving whole cow milk until the child is 9 year old. A kid may have damaged mucous tunic, and, as a result, loss of iron.

Almost all kinds of tea and coffee hamper iron absorption. If a child starts to develop anemia - stop drinking those.

Breastfeeding will lower anemia risks not only in a child, but in a mother as well. Lactation restores the uterine size up to the pre-delivery one. You may prevent blood loss and will keep the iron level in the body.
Breastfeed and your body will absorb iron better, lactation process will increase iron level in your body.

I wonder why many mothers still oppose breastfeeding? Unfortunately, many women consider breastfeeding unnecessary and in no way want to breastfeed. My dear business ladies, your breast is best for your child.

Say no to constant pumping and formulas!

Well, no sitter will replace you as a mom. And if you’ve decided to keep your breasts untouched, consider what benefits you deprive your child of when rejecting to breastfeed:

Your child stops growing healthy? Do not get surprised when the baby loses weight and does not have sound sleep. It’s totally your fault!

Your child is always sick? Lack of healthy microelements and biologically active substances, lipids and vitamins – this is what your child is lacking. You deprive your child of the most precious - of the immunity which mother’s milk contributes to greatly. Isn’t it cruel?

You cause serious harm to a child depriving it of the most necessary! As lactation process lessens, a breastfeeding mother needs to stop breastfeeding. In the last period of lactation, colostrum with high percentage of antibodies is produced instead of milk. The antibodies protect baby’s health and mom’s breasts. If you’ve decided to stop breastfeeding at once, you are at risk of developing lumps in breast, and you simply harm the kid’s health – his/her body needs breastfeeding and you stop it!

Let's consider what hemoglobin is and why low hemoglobin level is dangerous.

Hemoglobin is the protein molecule in red blood cells. Under normal resting conditions arterial blood hemoglobin is 98% saturated with oxygen. The primary function of red blood cells is transportation of oxygen from the lungs to all the cells of the body. Red blood cells also carry carbon dioxide from the cells to the lungs. The transportation process occurs because of binding between oxygen and carbon dioxide.

Anemia is the medical condition in which the number of red blood cells and/or the amount of hemoglobin found in the red blood cells is less than normal. In people suffering from anemia, red blood oxygen capacity drops, and an inadequate supply of oxygen to the body (hypoxia) develops. The deeper the anemia is, the more serious is hypoxia.

Hemoglobin is composed of proteins (globins) and iron-containing rings (hemes). Iron deficiency anemia is the most common type of anemia. At iron deficiency, hemoglobin, which contains iron, cannot be formed.

You may stop breastfeeding anytime you need and want to, season does not make difference. There exist certain risks at any season. Still, most doctors and lactation consultants recommend to avoid stopping breastfeeding in summer. Why that?

1. Loss of liquid. A child might need much liquid to fill in the loss. Meanwhile, not every child will start drinking from a mug.
2. Mother's breast milk is best in the heat. With breast milk, a child gets the substances that increase its immunity. In the heat, the amount of gastric juice and enzymes goes down, dyspepsia can develop easily, so, it is desirable to prolong breastfeeding till autumn.
3. Intestinal diseases. There are high risks of enteroideas in summer. Mother's breast milk can help to avoid any intestinal disorders. If your child has fallen ill and you are feeding it with a formula, resort to breast milk only, unless the child recovers.
4. Breast infections. In summer, there are also high breast risks related to milk stagnation in breasts, i.e. mastitis.
5. Extra stress. Stopping breastfeeding is stressful in itself which adds to the infections above.
6. Summer is the time for trips. People plan their summer vacations, meanwhile stopping breastfeeding far from home is not the best variant to choose.

Where can I store breast milk?
Breast milk can be kept in the refrigerator only.

How long and at what temperature can I store breast milk?

• Storage time at room temperature is 8-12 h.
• Storage time in the refrigerator is 8-10 days.
• Storage time in a freezer compartment is up to 6 months.

Store milk in the freezer – is it harmful?
There is no definite opinion on the problem among pediatricians and breastfeeding professionals. Anyways, frozen breast milk is still better than a formula. But you’d better freeze breast milk only as a last resort.

How to store breast milk, if there is no refrigerator?
Use special refrigerator bags with freezers or ordinary thermoses. When you store breast milk in a thermos, fill it with ice, then pour the ice out and pour the pumped milk in. It is desirable to prepare the ice beforehand out of the boiled or distilled water.

How much breast milk can I freeze?
You’d better store the breast milk in small portions (100-120 ml) so as not to waste any.