Breastfeeding is the practice of feeding the baby with the mother’s milk. Breastfeeding facilitates the acquisition of a sense of maternal identity and the establishment of a good parent-child relationship between mother and baby. Exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months of life is the recommended way to feed an infant, followed by continued breastfeeding with appropriate complementary foods until 2 years of age or older. Breastfed infants develop healthier, with effects such as strengthening immunity, aiding digestion, stimulating brain and mental development, reducing the incidence of SIDS, reducing childhood obesity, reducing the incidence of allergic diseases, and significantly reducing the incidence of infectious diseases and death in children. Breastfeeding is economical, convenient, and conducive to mother-child bonding, helps mothers recover after childbirth, and reduces the incidence of ovarian, endometrial, and breast cancer. Breast milk is a special gift that mothers give to their babies. Preparation before and after breastfeeding The mother’s small breast development, nipple invagination or flat nipples do not affect breastfeeding, and the latter is not necessary to perform nipple traction during pregnancy. Before breastfeeding, the mother should wash her hands and clean her breasts and nipples with warm boiled water. You can also squeeze out a little milk to soften the areola and help the baby to hold the nipple and most of the areola. After breastfeeding, squeeze a little milk on the nipple and areola to prevent nipple cracking. Breastfeeding as early as possible Mother and baby in the same room, newborns as early as possible after birth skin-to-skin contact, early sucking (<30min). Early suckling and early contact reduce the risk of hypoglycemia in newborns. Although the amount of milk in the breast is low, lactation can be stimulated by the newborn sucking on the nipple. The energy reserves in the newborn's body at birth can meet the metabolic needs for at least 3 days, so there is no need to worry about starvation of the newborn. So do not add sugar water or formula at will. When feeding, choose a sitting or side-lying position, as comfortable as possible. Place the thumb of one hand on top of the breast and the rest of the fingers on the underside of the breast. Be careful to put the nipple and most of the areola into the newborn's mouth. Hold the breast with your hand to prevent it from blocking the baby's nostrils. Suckle on one side before suckling on the other. After breastfeeding, hold the baby upright, lean the head on the mother's shoulder, and pat the back for 1 to 2 minutes to expel the air in the stomach to prevent milk spillage. Methods to judge the effectiveness of breastfeeding (1) Breastfeed 8 to 12 times. The duration of each breastfeeding does not exceed one hour, 15-20 minutes for each breast, 30-40 minutes for both breasts, and of course slowly shortened as the baby grows. (2) The newborn will excrete dark green meconium 24 to 48h after birth. Later, 2 to 4 times a day, the stool is soft and yellow. (3) The infant urinates less on the first day after birth; with the increase of breast milk production, the infant urinates more and more. Starting from the 3rd day after birth, the baby urinates 6 to 8 times a day. (4) Newborns who are exclusively breastfed have varying degrees of weight loss 6 hours after birth. 3-4 weeks later they can return to their birth weight. After that, the average increase is 100-200 grams per week, or 450 grams per month. Breastfeeding process common problems to deal with (1) breast distension and mastitis As long as you master the correct breastfeeding method, it is possible to prevent breast distension. The reason for this is due to overfilling of the breast and blockage of the milk ducts. Before breastfeeding breast swelling first wet and hot compress 3 to 5 minutes, and massage, let the baby sucking, while rubbing the swollen area until it is soft. Remember to suck one breast empty. If the mother has mastitis, she should seek specialist treatment from a breast surgeon and take symptomatic support measures such as breast emptying, rest, analgesia, and antibiotic treatment if necessary; in mild cases, breastfeeding can continue, but in severe cases, breastfeeding should be suspended, but the breast should be emptied. (2) Breast milk-associated jaundice Breastfeeding on demand can help prevent the occurrence of breast milk-associated jaundice, and breast milk-associated jaundice infants can be breastfed without interruption. For infants with diagnosed breast milk-associated jaundice, phototherapy and other treatments are not recommended when bilirubin levels are below the threshold for phototherapy. For infants with diagnosed breast milk-associated jaundice, mothers are allowed to breastfeed and care for their newborns between infant phototherapy sessions when bilirubin levels reach the phototherapy indication. For infants with clearly diagnosed breast milk-associated jaundice, routine vaccination is allowed if the general condition is good and there are no other complications. (3) Milk protein allergy Infants with milk protein allergy should be encouraged to continue breastfeeding, but mothers should avoid the intake of milk and its products and take calcium supplements. (4) Insufficient breast milk secretion Health care personnel should help mothers analyze the reasons for insufficient milk secretion and encourage them to establish confidence to insist on breastfeeding. Provide guidance on breastfeeding methods, breastfeed on demand, and increase the number of nighttime breastfeeding sessions. Enhance nutrition and lactation diet. However, it is not recommended that mothers consume too much liquid (including soups) to increase breast milk production. Home storage of breastmilk (1) It is best for the mother to breastfeed directly, and to pump milk for bottle feeding when needed, but frequent pumping is not recommended. (2) The amount of breastmilk collected should not exceed 3/4 of the capacity of the container, so as not to increase the volume of breastmilk after freezing and damage the storage container; store the breastmilk collected each time separately; it is not necessary to discard the first 5-l0 ml of breastmilk collected each time; food-grade hard plastic is recommended for storing breastmilk. (4) Thawing method: Thaw in refrigerated, cold water, warm water (≤ 37 ℃), or milk warmer (liquid level not exceeding the mouth of the bottle), not in microwave oven; (5) Heating method: Use milk warmer, or heat in warm water (≥ 37 ℃ and < 40 ℃) (heating time ≤ 15 min), not in boiling water or microwave oven. Contraindications to breastfeeding (1) the child is suffering from galactorrhea; (2) poor maternal habits: smoking, alcoholism, drug use, etc.; (3) the mother is undergoing radiotherapy or taking antidepressants, sedatives, epileptics and antimetabolites; (4) maternal bacterial and viral infections: STDs (HIV, HSV-1, T-lymphocyte type 1 and 2 (HTLV I and II) positive, recent syphilis infection (4) maternal bacterial viral infections: STD (HIV, HSV-1, T-lymphocyte type 1 and 2 (HTLV I and II) positive, recent syphilis infection, active or untreated tuberculosis, maternal chickenpox infection 5 days before or 48 hours after delivery, breastfeeding should not be allowed until the mother is completely free of infection; (5) maternal serious illness; (6) maternal breast-related diseases: herpes-like lumps on the nipples; maternal breast milk collection can still be used when the mother has mastitis, but not when the breast milk is spoiled.