Kate Hale is a Registered Nurse, Midwife IBCLC Lactation Consultant.She has had experience in midwifery, neonatal intensive care and baby clinics and has been working with breastfeeding mums for over 20 years, she is also the mother of 4 adult children.

Kate runs a Private Lactation Practice in Sydney.

Kate’s ” 5 Top Tip’s on breastfeeding “

1. We keep hearing ‘ breast is best ‘! Well, yes it is for all the right reasons, starting with the colostrum. This fantastic first milk your baby will get after it is born, is packed full of antibodies, designed to help stop your baby getting sick in the early months.It will also provide your baby with the perfect recipe feed. So, my tip is give breastfeeding a go !

2. A lot of mums start breastfeeding in hospital, only to find they end up with grazed, sore nipples. Sadly, when your sore and tired it is easy to decide you don’t want to breastfeed. So, my next tip is, learn how to get the attachment or latch right !

By Patricia Usoalii

When my daughter was born I was over the moon about her. I couldn’t wait to breastfeed her and feel that special connection with my baby. But nobody told me that breastfeeding wasn’t easy.

Even though my breasts hurt when she was feeding off me I just dealt with the pain because I didn’t want a starving baby.

On the third day after my daughter’s birth I was able to go home from the hospital. It came to the point that I dreaded her feeding time because I was just too sore.

The first days and weeks after you bring your baby home are often filled with questions and a couple (or maybe more than a couple) of concerns. One of the biggest, if you choose to breastfeed, is whether or not your baby is getting enough to eat. As breasts don’t have helpful millilitre marks on them, it can be very difficult to ascertain just how much your little one if drinking, leading to all sorts of anxiety amongst new mums.

Nipple pain is a common complaint amongst breastfeeding mums. Most women experience it at some stage during their breastfeeding relationship with their baby.

However, it is important to know that despite it being a common problem, it is always a sign that there is a problem and the problem if left untreated can lead to problems that are more serious.

Birth to Three Months

During the early stages of a baby’s life, nipple pain can have a number of causes.

• The most common cause is incorrect positioning baby on the breast. If your baby does not attach to the breast properly, you will likely develop a sore area, abrasion or ulceration on your nipple.

• Nipple confusion and incorrect sucking technique may also traumatise your nipple and create pain.

• Soggy breast pads can cause inflamed and sore nipples that are prone to abrasions, ulcerations and portals for infection.

• Sore nipples may be the first sign of serious infections including thrush and bacteria that can cause mastitis.

• Dermatitis and eczema may develop around the nipple area, particularly if you are prone to these skin problems before your baby’s birth or you develop sensitivity to products such as washing detergents or soaps during and after pregnancy.

Written by midwife Carol Groves

Ouch! You grit your teeth but you persevere. It hurts. It really hurts and every suck seems to send stinging pains down your spine, but nothing in this world will make you stop.

This precious baby needs the milk and pain or no pain, you are resolved to “grin and bear it”  ”I had no problems with my last baby, why so many with this one? “.” Hmm.. Something is definitely wrong here. Breastfeeding should not hurt like this. ”

Now, you may wonder why I have chosen to begin this article with these rather pessimistic sounding quotes.  I said these things to myself during the days after my second son were born. I went on to feed him for another 18 months. I do understand why many mums are tempted to stop feeding with the pain.

I had fed my first son with no problems, trained to be a breastfeeding counsellor with the then named “Nursing Mother’s”  (now Breastfeeding Australia). Despite all of this, here was I, a couple of days after my son’s birth with very sore nipples.

Making sure you indulge in nutritious, well balanced snacks between meals is an important part of any healthy eating and weight loss plan.

This becomes even more important when you’re breastfeeding your little one. It’s estimated that nursing mama’s need an extra 500 calories per day to ensure strong milk production and overall health.

Inadequate nutrition is one of the primary causes of a reduction in milk supply and levels as your body furiously scrambles to keep you going with only the bare essentials.

If frequent feeding (as is common in the early days or when bubs is having a growth spurt) is coupled with a mummy who’s fuel tank is empty, one or the other will suffer, with milk supply dropping and/or mum struggling to fire on all cyclinders.

Ensuring that your diet is up to scratch, and full of essentials like protein, complex carbs, healthy fats and vitamins and minerals is one of the best ways to keep both mum and baby healthy.

It can be tricky though to sneak an extra helping of calories in to your three main meals a day.

As you are preparing for the birth of your new baby, no doubt you are feeling excited and maybe even slightly anxious.

New roles and maybe even a complete lifestyle change lie ahead and this is a big moment in your life.

Anticipating the needs of another human being, completely dependent on you for everything is no little task.

The first few days after a baby is born are often the most confusing for most new mums.

If you want to breast feed your baby, doing it successfully may be an important concern for you although a perfectly natural act, most women today experience a challenge at some stage or another.

Hi everyone at Lose Baby Weight, this is just an update on my progress after I have now been on the Lose Baby Weight pregnancy weight loss plans for just over 8 week and have lost 8kg.

Things are going really well with the lose baby weight breastfeeding safe smoothies, I get soo excited to have them in the mornings, especially in the past few weeks I have been extremely run into the ground with my children both very sick and I’m also quite unwell, the smoothies just give me such a lift of a morning which is just what I need after weeks of minimal sleep.

Anyway, last time I jumped on the scales approx a week ago I was shocked to find I had a total of 8kilos!

I’v got 7kilos more to lose yet but I’m determined to get there! To be honest i’ve have done minimal exercise, I just goes to show with the right eating plan and the lose baby weight smoothies you can achieve your goals!

I have always struggled with my weight and having 2 children within 2 years did nothing to help with that with the pregnancy weight creeping on. In the past I have tried to exercise but it always gave me a headache and I just couldn’t find the energy to get started.

It was after the birth of my 2nd child that I got serious about doing something about my pregnancy weight and my lifestyle, for my families sake.

My 2nd son was born weighing a massive 5.01kg (11lbs, 1oz in the old scale). Being born so big meant he had to have his sugar levels closely monitored in the days following his birth and he may have a pre-disposition to diabetes.

This can hopefully be avoided by implementing a healthy lifestyle. My GP was also certain that I also would have signs of pre-diabetes. Although my tests came back clear, this scare was the kick up the rear end I desperately needed.

I stumbled across Lose Baby Weight on Facebook and after going through the website and looking at the breastfeeding safe diet plans I decided to give the healthy mummy smoothies a go.

By Jillian Piza

Introduction

Expressing breast milk is a great way to keep your supply up, prepare for emergencies or time away, and include others in feeding your baby. In some cases, such as low supply or if your baby can’t breastfeed, you may have to pump several times daily – a major time commitment, taking hours of your already-busy day.

But there are plenty of methods you can use to get other things done while you pump, and to make the process more enjoyable. Here are five ideas to make your time under the pump more productive and rewarding.

Use the right pump for the job

Breast pumps come in a variety of brands, styles and configuration – you can even express by hand. However, if you’re going to express regularly, investing in the right pump can be well worth the money.