Difficulties in breastfeeding: ways to solve the problem

Introduction. Practical assistance of medical personnel to nursing women with difficulties in breastfeeding, joint search for solutions to the problem of hypogalactia contributes to the preservation of breastfeeding throughout the first year of a baby’s life.

Purpose of the study. The frequency and nature of lactation disorders in women in the first weeks and months of breastfeeding were studied.

Materials and methods. The attitude of women to various, including non-drug, methods of maintaining lactation was analyzed. The study was conducted following a survey of 58 women – patients of the perinatal center in the early postpartum period, 28 women whose children received breastfeeding/mixed feeding in the 1st year of life and 16 female employees of neonatological departments, whose children were also breastfed/mixed feeding in the 1st year of life. With women in groups 1 and 2 in the obstetric facility, there were talks about the benefits of breastfeeding and instructions on how to properly latch on the newborn to the breast. The respondents participated in the study only voluntarily.

Results and discussion. Revealed approximately the same nature of lactation disorders in all groups. The predominance of women with hypogalactia after preterm birth was noted; breastfeeding up to one and a half to two years was observed in 4% of young women without chronic somatic pathology after the first spontaneous birth. Respondents of groups 1 and 3 showed high awareness and greater adherence to non-drug correction of hypogalactia in the form of the use of herbal tea. At the same time, some of the respondents in group 2 showed low motivation to maintain breastfeeding and were skeptical about any way to maintain lactation. Among the surveyed respondents, 47% (48 women out of 102) used herbal tea for a long time (3–6 weeks or more). All of them characterized as an effective lactogonic agent, and also noted a calmer behavior of the child, a decrease in intestinal colic and an improvement in the quality of night sleep.

Conclusions. A data analysis of the survey of nursing mothers and women who had a breastfeeding experience showed that there is approximately the same pattern of lactation disorders regardless of the woman’s age, high or low awareness of breastfeeding issues.

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