Little Araia is enjoying a ‘Kangaroo Cuddle’ with her mum.
Aside from looking cute and strengthening the bond between mother and daughter, this sweet snuggle has a greater purpose.
Neonatal Lactation Consultant (LC) Kylie Peach explained that skin-to-skin contact like this could help boost a woman’s milk-making hormones.
The LC further explained that premature babies were often born before their mother’s milk supply had been established, leading to the need for additional feeding support for both mother and baby.
Learning how to safely feed their baby and how to establish and boost their milk supply are just two of the many lessons Kylie and fellow LC Debbie Rankmore teach new and expecting mothers at Logan Hospital.
The consultants said their roles as LC’s was to listen to women and support them to reach their feeding goals, as well as provide tailored education to families and staff.
This World Breastfeeding Week, the passionate breastfeeding advocates were campaigning to celebrate breastfeeding mums in all their diversity, throughout their breastfeeding journeys.
Kylie and Debbie said it was important to recognise that everyone’s feeding journey looked different.
“Many women want to breastfeed, but some have more trouble than others, especially mothers of premature babies,” they said.
“Sometimes tiny preterm babies are born without the ability to swallow and suck at the same time, and before the mother’s milk supply has been established.”
The LC’s explained that in these cases, education is focused on collecting the woman’s colostrum and establishing her supply by expressing regularly, using the correct breast pump, eating and drinking well, lowering stress levels and most importantly having lots of Kangaroo Cuddles.
The pair also provide counselling on the use of Pasteurised Donor Human Milk (PDHM) as a short-term solution for eligible women.
The liquid gold can be used to support the feeding needs of pre-term babies born under 34 weeks or under 1500 grams at birth.
Evidence has shown that PDHM has significant benefits to a baby’s preterm gut with ongoing clinical trials being undertaken to understand the positive impact to parents’ wellbeing and to other babies who couldn’t access their mother’s milk.
The Life Blood Milk Bank has delivered more than two thousand bottles of PDHM since 2021, with 21 Neonates having received donated milk this year.
“We always prefer to use a mother’s own milk over PDHM as there are more live antibodies and it is higher in protein, but PDHM is a wonderful short-term solution for some families,” Kylie said.
“We use the PDHM to wean the premature babies off their intravenous drip.”
The LC’s said that while they encouraged as many women as possible to breastfeed their babies, they provided equal support to women who chose not to.
“Being Baby Friendly Health Initiative (BFHI) accredited, we aim to protect, promote and support breastfeeding while having processes in place to support women in whatever feeding choice they have made,” they said.
Logan Hospital is one of 18 hospitals in Queensland to have earned BFHI Accreditation, alongside Metro South’s two other birthing facilities - Beaudesert and Redland hospitals.
Attaining accreditation signifies that a facility is committed to evidence-based, best-practice maternity care and ensuring that every mother is supported with her informed choice of infant feeding during her transition to motherhood.
Logan and Beaudesert hospitals will undergo reaccreditation in September.