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Breastfeeding a Preemie
A New Mom's Experience
By Belinda Clarke
Most people will tell you that breastfeeding requires diligence and hard work, but breastfeeding a premature infant brings additional challenges. Of course it's worth it to provide the absolute best nutrition for your new baby, but when it comes to feeding a preemie, the road to success can be slow and stressful.
In utero, babies are not required to breathe or eat on their own. Because of this, pre-term infants often have trouble doing these things. Being thrust out of their cozy environment early, they are suddenly required to perform functions they "shouldn't have to do" at that point in their development. Depending on how premature the baby, some infants can't eat (or breathe) on their own following birth. In the case of my preemie, I was lucky that he came out screaming and never needed breathing assistance. Eating was another story. Born at 32 weeks, I knew that my son would be in the hospital's special care unit for several weeks, perhaps even until his due date. Unsure about when he would be able to breastfeed, I began expressing my milk right away to provide colostrum and then the subsequent breastmilk to him while he was in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). I began a practice of bringing chilled breastmilk from home to the hospital for the nurses to use. Because of his immature sucking reflex, most of his meals were fed to him via a feeding tube that went into his nose directly to stomach. However, as he got stronger, more meals were fed via bottle.
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Re: Breastfeeding a Preemie by mom of 31 week 4 day on 02/18/2010 05:53PM
My son and I are continuing to adjust to home life and the prospect of nursing "normally". I am still a member of the 3 part feeding club but its nice to know that it may one day end.
Re: Breastfeeding a Preemie by marlene on 01/31/2010 04:25PM
Three cheers for all the preemie moms who perservere feeding their babies. My second born was 32 weeks old but was strong and went home in 10 days to pig out at the milk bar. My third was born at 25 weeks with big problems. After four months in the hospital he was not bottling or breastfeeding, but I'd had enough of the hospital and took him home to breastfeed. More like I expressed into his mouth till he caught on! I could not have breast fed him without help from La Leche League, I would recommend their help to anyone who needs help bf"ing Son #3 is an adult now and no one would know he was a preemie (unless they saw the massive scars on his chest). I
Re: Breastfeeding a Preemie by anonymous on 01/26/2010 12:25PM
I could have written this article myself with the exception that my baby was only 5 weeks premature and only 5 days in the NICU, thank God. We got her to suck for a full 5 mins today and I was ready to throw a party. We have to hang in there... It was great to read this article, helps restore the faith that we are not alone and it will all work out. :)
Re: Breastfeeding a Preemie by mom of 32 weeker on 01/03/2010 11:39PM
Nice to see others are dealing with the same frustration. My son was born at 32 weeks and was the NICU for 56 days. We bottle-fed/tube fed our entire hospital stay, and even with the help of a nipple shield, he just won't latch. We've now been home several weeks, and I"m still pumping and bottle-feeding. We also fortify the milk with formula to make sure he's getting plenty of calories. As frustrating as it all is, it's nice to know exactly how much he is getting at each feeding, and ABSOLUTELY worth all the time- consuming pumping and mixing bottles for him to be getting breast milk. I wouldn't have it any other way. I wish all of you new moms out there good luck :-)
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Re: feeding a Preemie by feeding problem on 03/03/2010 09:40AM
my baby now still nicu for 4 mths all day in tube feeding. now weight is going to 2kg plus can be discharged from hosp.but we facing feeding problem, now try in ot stimulate,,so still stay in hospital.. i very worried that .. can some one help me ?....