How to solve the breastfeeding problem caused by mother-baby separation after childbirth?

It is well known that breast milk is the best food for babies, but in real life, many babies may be affected by various factors after birth, which may cause the baby to be unable to stay with the mother. This causes many new mothers to be troubled by the problem of breastfeeding their children. In order to help new mothers solve these problems, today let us start from the perspective of mother-baby separation and talk about how to breastfeed after mother-baby separation?

1. Intervene as early as possible to ensure milk secretion

For new mothers, they all know the benefits of breastfeeding, but when faced with the situation of mother-child separation, many new mothers are confused. Many people even think that it is normal for the breasts to have no milk within three days after the birth of the child, and no special treatment is required. In fact, this idea is wrong. Under normal circumstances, we can stimulate the breasts to discharge milk one hour after delivery. If the milk discharge operation is not performed within three days after the birth of the child, then the mother's breasts will be swollen and painful due to sufficient milk after three days, and even cannot be touched. The main factor leading to this situation is that after the baby is born, the new mothers did not intervene in advance because the baby was not around, resulting in milk blockage in the milk ducts of the breasts, resulting in the milk in the breasts cannot be discharged smoothly. Therefore, when the mother and child are separated after the baby is born, the mother's breasts cannot be sucked by the baby to stimulate the discharge of milk, then these new mothers need to use their hands or breast pumps to discharge milk to promote the normal secretion of milk.

2. Maintain the correct milk discharge steps

In the case of separation of mother and baby, new mothers can follow the following steps when expressing milk by hand or using a breast pump:

(1) When the mother and baby are separated, in order to promote the smooth secretion of milk, the new mother can drink more warm water to accelerate the secretion of milk.

(2) Before starting to express milk, you need to use warm water to clean the mother's breasts and hands to avoid contaminating the milk. At the same time, before expressing milk, in order to smoothly express milk, new mothers can use a warm towel to apply heat to the breasts. Generally, heat compress for 3-5 minutes is enough. After the heat compress, you can also massage the breasts to promote smooth milk discharge.

(3) During the process of milk discharge, new mothers need to maintain a comfortable posture, which can be standing or sitting, depending on the comfort level of the new mother. If the new mother has a cesarean section, she can adopt a semi-lying posture to discharge milk with the help of family members. In addition, due to the separation of mother and baby, many new mothers will feel anxious, which requires family members to help new mothers stay in a good mood, help new mothers reduce anxiety, and promote the smooth secretion of milk.

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(4) Under the premise of separation of mother and baby, it is very important to maintain a good milk discharge frequency during the process of expressing milk by hand or with a breast pump. Generally, it is necessary for new mothers to start expressing milk one hour after delivery, and the frequency of milk discharge during the day should be once every 2-3 hours. At night, milk discharge should be performed at least once, and the number of times of milk discharge per day should be maintained at about 8-10 times. When expressing milk, it is necessary to first express milk from one breast for 3-5 minutes, and then express milk from the other breast, and repeat the cycle for 20 to 30 minutes.

(5) During the process of separating mother and baby, it is very important for new mothers to adopt the correct milk discharge technique. When using hands to discharge milk, you need to place the thumb and index finger on the breast 2-3 cm away from the base of the nipple, then put the two fingers together, hold the breast with the other hand, and use the fingers on the areola to gently press in the direction of the chest wall so that the pressing force can effectively act on the milk sinus below the areola, and then repeatedly press and release to discharge the milk. However, during the operation, it is worth noting that the two fingers on the areola do not need to slide, just follow the directions of the areola and use the same method to help all the milk in the milk sinus to be discharged. And be careful not to cause breast pain during the operation. One breast needs to be discharged for 3-5 minutes, and then the other breast is discharged. The cycle should be repeated for 20-30 minutes.

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(6) If a new mother chooses to use a breast pump to express milk, which electric breast pump should she choose? Electric breast pumps can be used for double-sided breast pumping. Simultaneous breast pumping can effectively shorten the time for milk expression, promote the increase of serum prolactin levels, and help the smooth secretion of milk. However, when choosing a breast pump, it is necessary to choose breast shields of appropriate size to ensure that the nipples of the new mother can be located in the center of the breast shield, and then choose the maximum comfortable pressure. In addition, during the process of breast pumping, the new mother also needs to support the breast and the breast shield to help maintain the seal and avoid excessive compression of the milk ducts, which will prevent the milk from being discharged smoothly. Generally, when using a breast pump, one breast needs to be pumped for about 15 minutes. After using the breast pump, both breasts need to be checked. If there are still lumps in the breast, the breast on this side needs to be sucked out.

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3. Store breast milk in time

In the case of separation of mother and baby, the new mother needs to store the breast milk in time after washing the milk. However, when storing breast milk, you need to pay attention to the following matters:

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(1) When storing breast milk, the milk storage bags used should be disposable items and should not be reused. In addition, no other food should be placed in the refrigerator where breast milk is stored.

(2) When storing breast milk, it should be noted that the amount of breast milk in each storage bag should not exceed 120 ml, or the storage amount can be divided according to the actual feeding situation of each child. However, since breast milk needs to be frozen during storage, the volume of breast milk will increase after freezing, so the storage volume should not exceed 3/4 of the storage container.

(3) After expressing breast milk, new mothers need to cool it down and put it in the refrigerator in time. If the breast milk is expressed multiple times, it can be placed in the refrigerator to make the two temperatures consistent before combining and freezing. Generally, it is recommended to refrigerate the expressed breast milk for one hour before combining it, and fresh breast milk cannot be combined with frozen breast milk.

(4) When storing breast milk, the time needs to be marked on each storage container and the containers should be placed in the order in which they were collected.

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4. Timely transfer of breast milk

After the baby is born, if it is due to premature birth or some infection and other factors that cause the baby to be hospitalized for observation in the neonatal ward, in this case, the mother and baby will be separated. The milk that the mother has worked hard to secrete needs to be placed in a disposable breast milk storage container and delivered to the neonatal ward in time, marked with the time of breastfeeding, as well as the mother's name and bed number.

5. How to use stored breast milk

(1) Thaw the frozen breast milk. During the thawing process, you can place it in the refrigerator overnight or thaw it in running tap water.

(2) Thawed breast milk needs to be soaked in warm water at 37-40 degrees Celsius to help warm the breast milk.

(3) You can also place the thawed breast milk in a constant temperature milk mixer for heating. It can be fed when it is heated to around 38-39 degrees Celsius.

**Summary: **When encountering the situation of mother-child separation, in order to achieve breastfeeding, new mothers need to maintain a good attitude and take correct milk expression measures to ensure the normal secretion of milk.