FAMILY BIRTHING CENTERS RECOGNIZED FOR BREASTFEEDING PROGRAM EXCELLENCE

Mercy Health Cincinnati hospitals have earned recognition for their excellent breastfeeding programs through Ohio First Steps for Healthy Babies and the Ohio Lactation Consultant Association (OLCA). Mercy Health actively has promoted and expanded access to resources and knowledge for breastfeeding, according to Dave Fikse, President, Mercy Health – Cincinnati. The Ohio First Steps for Healthy Babies Review Committee has recognized Mercy Health – Anderson and West Hospitals as Five-Star Hospitals. In addition, Mercy Health – Anderson, Fairfield and West hospitals have received the Maternity Care Best Practice Award “Bag Free” Recognition which goes to facilities that  do not provide any formula company-sponsored materials including free formula, diaper bags, breastfeeding covers or any other free gifts with formula company logos.

DREAMFEED FOR EXTRA SLEEP

You take your sleeping baby into your arms and sit down in a comfy spot to feed him — while he’s sleeping. Yup. That’s the idea behind “Dreamfeeding,” the phrase coined by Robert Bucknam, M.D. in the book, On Becoming Babywise: Giving Your Infant the Gift of Nighttime Sleep (Parent Wise Solutions; 2012).
The point is to dreamfeed your baby right before YOU go to bed so you both get a couple of extra hours sleep during the night. Here’s how:

HOW TO DREAMFEED

Before YOU turn in for the night:

• Have your breast or bottle ready
• Lift baby from where he’s sleeping
• Sit comfortably in a dimly lit area
• Gently poke your baby’s mouth with your nipple or the bottle’s nipple; a drop of milk on top may help
• If Baby doesn’t start sucking, try changing your position a bit to disturb Baby’s sleep a bit but not enough to wake him.

Buckham says that unless your baby is in deep sleep, it will work eventually, so try, try again. If you eventually DO gain extra sleep but start believing that your baby might be able to sleep without the extra feeding, just slowly decrease the time you spend dreamfeeding … or you can stop dreamfeeding by moving the time for the dreamfeed forward and seeing what happens. You’re a new mom, and a forgetful one at that. Maybe it’s what everyone is talking about these days: “mom brain.” Could this be what’s going on with all the new mothers who forget stuff all the time after having a baby?

BRAIN CHANGE

According to recent research, a woman’s brain actually does change after giving birth for the first time. Researchers from the Autonomous University of Barcelona scanned the brains of a group of women before and after they gave birth, and found changes in the structure of their brains that were long-lasting, remaining for at least two years. Researchers say a big part of mom brain is the result of being overwhelmed by new and challenging responsibilities that invade the same space where old responsibilities still reside. A new-mom brain, though — forgetfulness, emotionality — might end up helping us become good, responsive parents, researchers said. But, fret not, it’s only temporary and may last until your child’s first birthday (this may be the result of sleep deprivation during the first year of motherhood, researchers say). To offset the effects of mom brain, make lists at the beginning of each day and check off tasks as you go. In addition, delegate at home and work when you can to avoid multi-tasking (which seems impossible for a new mom, right?) Steady as you go!

Source: Pregnancy Day by Day