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15 Breast Milk Nutrition Secrets

Nourish Birth Breastmilk Nutrition Secrets
  1. Breast milk contains ingredients that kill cancerous cells.
  2. Your body identifies bacteria and viruses found in your baby’s body and environment. You then produce antibodies specifically tailored for those infections and deliver them to your baby through your breast milk. The more breast milk she drinks, the more antibodies she receives.
  3. Breast milk appears to switch on a gene in your baby’s body, which produces a hormone called Leptin. This hormone tells your baby when his tummy is full, protecting him against overeating.
  4. Breast milk contains Oxytocin, a hormone that induces relaxation, and feelings of well-being in your child and in you.
  5. Stem Cells divide and self-renew to create and repair different organs and systems. Your breast milk contains stem cells. These are cells that create and repair the body. These cells are absorbed by the baby, but their function remains unknown. Stem cells are being researched worldwide to cure conditions like Alzheimer’s and diabetes.
  6. Breast milk has millions of microbes (bacteria, viruses and fungi) that are critical to preventing babies from suffering diseases and other acute infections later in life (ear infections, meningitis, urinary tract infection, asthma, type 1 diabetes and obesity).
  7. Breast milk improves intestinal barrier function by increasing mucous which acts as a shield for the baby.
  8. Breast milk “teaches” the immune system, showing it good bacteria from the bad.
  9. Breast milk produce anti-inflammatory substances which keeps the gut alive and thriving.
  10. Breast milk aids digestion by determining how much fat a baby stores while breaking down sugars and proteins.
  11. Breast milk is often used topically to treat infections like pink eye, rashes, stretch marks, and eczema.
  12. Immune-compromised people, retired firefighters, and even male body builders admit to routinely purchase breastmilk, naming it the “greatest supplement ever”.
  13. People in European countries leave their breastmilk out all day and allow it to ferment, and then feed it to their older infants and toddlers.
  14. Some believe breastmilk to be Mother Nature’s archetypal probiotic (and perhaps even synbiotic) food.
  15. Studies on breastmilk, microbiota, microbiome, and probiotics are very new. Research for this field in America is limited due to the source of funding by most research studies being formula companies.

Read about breastmilk and formula here.

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Best Breastfeeding Position

Best Breastfeeding Position

Natural breastfeeding using the laid back breastfeeding method also known as the Turtle Method position can stimulate your baby’s pressure points to nurse and heal your breasts while getting a deeper latch! It is also a safer way for your baby to breastfeed if you fall asleep while feeding your baby.

With the Turtle Method, newborn babies can stabilize themselves naturally. This means your baby can already instinctively control certain parts of their body, and will naturally help manipulate your breast to suit their own feeding behaviors. The Turtle Method position gives your baby control of your breast by flexing his or her hands and fingers and then moving them to sculpt your nipples. This position makes it more suitable for them to feed, and it also releases scar tissue in your breast which eliminates the need for pumping because of inverted or flat nipples.

When your baby is faced down on your stomach in the Turtle position, they are touching certain pressure points with their knees, pelvic area, and feet while also allowing gravity to pull them into your chest instead of gravity pulling your breasts downward. Plus, being on their belly counts as tummy time toward their essential development!

The Turtle Method allows your baby to breastfeed much better than when they are laying on their back breastfeeding in your arms because they won’t involuntarily reflex backward when you guide your baby’s head toward your chest with your hand. When your baby is laying on their back in your arms, it is a gravity-fighting position and there is a shallower latch… ouch!

In addition, being on their stomach while in Turtle position actually allows your baby to help release the fluids in your own body which you received from IVs and also from engorgement as your milk comes in. This is due to your baby’s body pressure pushing against you while you lay in a reclined position. With your baby facing down, their body helps through this reverse pressure technique to decrease the swelling and fluids in the breast and draw out the nipple for easier feeding.

In terms of safety, the Turtle Method allows your baby to be fully resting on your body without the requirement of your arms. You don’t have to worry about your baby’s safety. However, if you fall asleep while breastfeeding your baby in your arms as they lay on their back, your baby would have no support.

Quick Turtle Method Tips:

  1. Lay back or recline in a chair and place your baby on your tummy, diagonally across your body with their cheek on the upper part of your breast. You should be fully reclined. If your baby starts slipping, you’re not laying back far enough. The natural curves of your body will support your baby sans props, and gravity will assist in a deep latch while your baby receives skin-to-skin contact.
  2. When your baby’s pressure buttons are pushed, their coordination improves. This was identified at Prague School by Scientists as Dynamic Neuromuscular Stabilization or DNS. To activate your newborn’s internal GPS so that your baby knows where they are and what they need to do, they need to feel their entire front against you and touching you with their complete body. This full frontal contact activates their pressure buttons located on their wrists, ribs, inside of their knees, and tops and bottoms of their feet, stabilizing their spine, which gives them better control over their own movements, so they can feed more effectively.
  3. Lastly, adjust your breast.
Breastfeeding Positions
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Breastfeeding Tips

Nourish Birth Breastfeeding Tips

Breast care and breastfeeding go hand-in-hand. A Newborn Care Specialist can help expected and new mothers with breastfeeding by discussing and demonstrating:

  • nutritional support for increasing milk supply
  • milk storage
  • nipple care and breast wellness
  • bottles for breastfed babies
  • nipple sizes
  • how often to feed
  • how much to feed
  • physical signs of your infant getting enough nutrition
  • guidelines for weight gain
  • signs of underfeeding and over feeding
  • safe breastfeeding tips
  • the most popular breastfeeding positions
  • best breastfeeding positions for c-section births
  • bottle temperature
  • converting CCs to ounces
  • choosing and using a pump
  • how to clean and sterilize bottles and equipment
  • benefits of nursing
  • the Kangaroo Care method
  • and any questions you have
Related Topics

* Read about better Breastfeeding Positions such as the Turtle Method in which newborn babies can stabilize themselves naturally. This means your baby can already instinctively control certain parts of their body, and will naturally help manipulate your breast to suit their own feeding behaviors.

* Bonding with your newborn baby can happen immediately after birthing through a method called Kangaroo Care. This promotes psychological and physical well-being for both your newborn and for you as the mother. Kangaroo Care includes skin-to-skin contact and exclusively breastfeeding.

* Learn the 15 Breast Milk Nutrition Secrets

* Compare the composition of Breast Milk vs. Formula

* Educating yourself with evidence-based information is important, and without judgment is so important for your psychological and emotional well-being.  It can be stressful if you feel alone in this, but you’re not.