Tag: vaginal delivery

What is that stench?!?

- Julie Matheney

Do you feel hot, sticky, sweaty, sopping wet and a little stinky? Welcome to motherhood. It does get better. There is an actual biological point to leaking from every pore and that weird stench that accompanies it. Not all of our senses are developed at birth. It would overwhelm our littles too much to go from a dark, wet environment to such a bright, crazy world to actually have every sense developed like ours. Their vision isn’t great and they have no depth perception. But they have a fully developed sense of smell. They have been getting to know your odors since their womb days. Your amniotic fluid was constantly changing in its scent based on what you ate and drank and your unique hormone combination. All that leaking you’re doing postpartum has a similar scent which serves to orient your baby back to you. Your body odors are familiar to your baby and it makes them feel safe and secure that they are with their birth person and not someone else. Your leaking smells also stimulate their hunger, which is why baby may constantly root when on your body even if they aren’t hungry. Did you know that the breast secretes an oil from those little bumps on your areolas that smells just like amniotic fluid? This helps baby locate dinner when they are ready to eat. Showering is normal, but avoiding the use of scented products can actually be very helpful and calming for your baby. While you may find your body odor unbecoming, know that to your baby it makes you feel like home.

Photo credit Lauren Archer
@loveofalittleone

What do my Labor and Delivery have to do with breastfeeding?

- Julie Matheney

All babies are born with innate instincts and reflex to get them to the breast soon after birth. Every baby, when placed skin to skin on their mother immediately after birth, will do the breast crawl and have a first latch within approximately 60 minutes of delivery, even medicated or c-section births. In the first 24 hours, babies are often sleepy. Waking for brief periods to feed and go back to sleep. The second day (and usually the second night) is when babies make up for the first day after delivery, ravenously cluster feeding for hours, much to the dismay of now extremely fatigued parents. But your labor has more of an impact on breastfeeding than you may realize.



We learning and understanding how our bodies prepare for breastfeeding during pregnancy, how what happens during labor and birth sets the stage for breastfeeding, and how the first minutes and hours after birth can have a lasting impact on the entire breastfeeding journey. The way baby is born  powerfully influences the first hours and days of breastfeeding. Unmedicated, vaginal birth sets the stage for problem-free breastfeeding, where biology, instinct and reflex can take center stage. In contrast, a complicated, intervention-intensive labor and birth increases the risk of problems.

How long you labor is really out of your control. The length of your labor may actually increase breastfeeding difficulty. For really long labors (over 24 hours), pushing for 4 hours or more, or very intense short labors, both you and baby may be so exhausted that rest and recovery take precedence over breastfeeding. Baby may be too tired to breastfeed often in the first few days, which increases your risk of not stimulating the breast well which in turn delays colostrum transitioning to mature milk and can decrease the overall volume your breast may be able to make in the future. Long, medically intervened labors also usually mean increased bags of IV fluids, which can cause excess fluid in your body which in turn delays the transition of colostrum to mature milk up to 10-12 days. It can also cause your hand, feet, and breasts to swell with extra fluid, called third spacing, which can make latching baby a challenge. (See my videos on Instagram about reverse pressure softening for help with this).

Events surrounding birth can inadvertently sabotage breastfeeding, as birth is supposed to be a well orchestrated series of events and hormone releases, setting you up for successful breastfeeding. Many of the birthing practices that are considered almost routine (induction, epidurals, separation of the mother and her baby for cleaning, weighing and foot printing) interfere with this hormonal dance resulting in poorer breastfeeding outcomes.

The routine progression of hormonal changes during  labor and birth perfectly prepares the body to breastfeed immediately after birth. During labor, oxytocin surges are responsible for increasingly stronger and more effective contractions. As oxytocin goes up, and the pain that accompanies the strong contractions increases, endorphins are released. High levels of endorphins help you cope with painful contractions and contribute to their becoming more instinctive. As the baby moves down the birth canal, almost ready to be born, catecholamines are released. The surge in catecholamines creates an energy boost and allows the baby is born with high levels of catecholamines as well (; ). This results in a vigorous, alert baby and an energized mother ready to breastfeed for the first time.

 

Skin to skin contact immediately after birth helps these same hormones continue to work in preparation of the first breastfeeding moment. Baby’s body weight on mom’s uterus, baby hand and head movements on her body, and then baby sucking at the breast stimulate even more oxytocin release (). Oxytocin helps the placenta separate and contracts the uterus further, preventing excessive bleeding. After birth, high levels of catecholamine in the baby insure alertness for the breast crawl and first latch. The endorphins present in mom pass on to baby through her breast milk, helping the baby stay calm and relaxed. After the first feeding, these hormones peak and allow both mother and baby 

Prolactin and oxytocin, the. milk making hormones, are released by baby’s sucking at the breast. Prolactin makes milk and oxytocin causes your letdown or release of milk. Prolactin, AKA “the love hormone”, is responsible for nurturing behaviors. Oxytocin makes you feel relaxed, sleepy, or calm feelings during milk letdown. 

All Labor pain-relief drugs have been shown to delay the onset of milk production and increase the risk of breastfeeding difficulties. This was well documented in a 2014 study by Lind et al. Pitocin, unlike naturally occurring oxytocin, does not cross the blood/brain barrier. As a result, the pituitary is not stimulated to release endorphins. Without the pain-relieving help of abundant endorphins, people who are induced with pitocin are more likely to require epidurals. In a vicious cycle, whenever an epidural is given and all pain is removed, naturally occurring oxytocin levels drop, requiring increased amounts of pitocin to continue contractions (Lieberman & O’Donoghue, 2002). Without the high levels of oxytocin and endorphins that would normally be released, a surge in catecholamines does not occur immediately before birth. This hormonal disruption during labor results in women giving birth with relatively low levels of naturally occurring oxytocin, endorphins, and catecholamines. Consequently, the outcome of low hormonal levels is a less responsive mother and baby which in turn impacts vigor at the breast ().

The medication used in the epidural does, in fact, “get to the baby.” Epidural narcotics or anesthetic drugs cross the placenta and can be found in cord blood. More research is needed, but we are starting to learn the neurobehavioral effects of medicated deliveries. Babies exposed to epidurals have a higher risk of have difficulty with latching on and an uncoordinated suck/swallow response for hours or days after birth (; ). Epidurals are also documented to lengthen the second stage of Labor and increase the likelihood of needing a C-section. The trauma of c-section birth, versus the natural positioning of coming through the birth canal, can make it painful for baby to assume the natural, instinctive positioning for breastfeeding and can make it difficult to latch. 

Elective induction of labor is also a risk to breastfeeding because of the potential of added intervention and the increased likelihood of the baby being born prematurely. The more premature a baby is, even at 37-38 weeks, the more immature and uncoordinated sucking and swallowing can be. Babies practice the coordination of sucking and swallowing in utero without expiation to feed, so the longer they are able to practice in utero, the more coordinated and ready they are to feed at birth.

So now what? You’ve had the baby and had a long, medicated delivery. Knowledge is power. You cannot change your birth story, but you can influence your breastfeeding journey.

  • Keep baby in skin to skin contact as long dn often as possible to help restore your oxytocin levels. Every 60 minutes 1-2x/day has been found to exponentially increase milk supply
  • Offer the breast frequent and often. Work on getting baby into a good position to ensure a deep latch
  • If you are separated from your baby or baby is super sleepy, hand express and/or start pumping. You will want to hand express or pump every 2-3 hours during the day and every 3-4 hours at night. You will get more colostrum from hand expression than pumping int he first three days, but pumping will help stimulate the nipples. Don’t be discouraged if you see little milk from a pump. The stimulation is needed until baby is able to latch
  • Stay hydrated and eat good foods full of protein
  • Use a paced bottle feeding technique and try not to over feed baby if you need to supplement. Always supplement with your own milk first, followed by formula. Babies need very little milk in the first 3 days.
  • Find lactation help as soon as possible to help create a plan to get breastfeeding back on track
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