Joyce Asabor Discusses

Common Breastfeeding Challenges

And Their Solutions

Joyce Asabor is a Co-Pastor of a Ministry

(Church) as well as the Head of the Women's

Ministry. She is also a certified breastfeeding

coach with years of experience in coaching

moms and community along with public health

issues in general. She received CLC certification

from Healthy Children Project Center For

Breastfeeding. She is dedicated to helping

mothers with breastfeeding problems and

providing them the best guidance and solutions.

When a mother chooses to breastfeed, she

makes an investment in the healthy future of her

baby. It enables her to provide the best food

choice for her baby, and gives an infant the

healthy beginning that will last for a lifetime. At

times breastfeeding can be difficult, particularly

in the early days, and it is where a lactation

consultant can help a mother find easy ways to

make breastfeeding work for her and the baby.

Some of the challenges that a woman might

have to face during feeding, include sore nipples,

low milk supply, oversupply of milk, strong let-

down reflex, engorgement, plugged ducts, breast

infection (mastitis), fungal infections, nursing

strike, inverted, flat, or very large nipples, and

more.

Oversupply Of Milk: An overfull breast can

make breastfeeding uncomfortable and

stressful for mothers as well as babies. This

often happens a few hours after delivery. To

overcome the discomfort of engorgement

breast feed the baby immediately or hand

express to get the milk out and gently

massage as baby is sucking. The engorged

breasts results from increased blood flow to

the breast tissues and allowing baby to feed

often for an increased length of time is

helpful. Engorgement can also be relieved by

applying a wash cloth over the breast or cold

compress after breastfeeding, if the

engorgement persists and if pain is

intolerable ask your mid wife or Doctor if a

mild pain reliever can be prescribed. Joyce

advices to feed baby before he or she is

overly hungry, this will help in preventing

aggressive sucking of the hungry baby which

can make the nipples sore or cracked and

eventually lead to other complications such

as mastitis (Infection of the breast tissue). If

after a day or two you are still engorged try

using a breast pump to drain the milk from

the breasts and taking a hot shower prior to

the next feeding time could be helpful.

Low Milk Supply: Engorgement if not

addressed could also create a situation where

the lack of emptying of breast milk prevents

the production of milk supply. The more the

baby sucks the more the readiness for the

mother to produce supply babies demand as

milk production depends on hormonal signals

being sent to the breast. Low milk production

could be caused hormonal or endocrine

problems such as polycystic ovary syndrome

(PCOS) Hypothyroid or Hypothyroid issues,

diabetes and high blood pressure. Other

reasons include taking certain medications

while breast feeding and or medications.

Mothers who tend not to breast feed at night

when the prolactin levels are lose that

opportunity as prolactin is the hormone that

signals the breast to make more milk.

Breast Infection (Mastitis): Mastitis is an

infection of the breast tissues. According to

Experts Mastitis commonly occurs within the

first six to 12 weeks after giving birth and can

happen during breastfeeding as previously

stated. Mastitis causes breast to swell,

reddened and warm to touch (Inflammation).

This causes pain and makes it uncomfortable

for the breastfeeding mom and difficult for

the baby to latch on. Non breast feeding

moms also experience Mastitis and the

soreness and pain accompanied by this is

often serious and requires the intervention of

a lactation specialist in consultation with a

physician. Symptoms include fever and chills

or flu like symptoms, vomiting, and breasts

become tender and warm to touch. Mastitis

tends to affect only one breast and a

physician should be contacted immediately

as some form of oral antibiotic is effective in

treating the condition. Joyce advises never to

treat oneself by using over the counter

medication. A nurse / lactation specialist in

collaboration with your physician should

always be the go to person as you do not

want to complicate issues for yourself and

the baby.

Sore Nipples: Joyce Asabor describes that

some mothers complain that their nipples

feel tender when they start breastfeeding for

the first time. It should feel comfortable once

the mother and her baby have found a better

latch having ruled out all the aforementioned

problems that can occur during

breastfeeding. Changing different positions

every time they breastfeed by offering one

breast for one feeding and the other for the

next feeding would help. Airing the breast

and massaging the nipples gently, using a

small amount of lanolin after feeding and

allowing breast to air dry is helpful. Use of

breast pads is helpful but nipples must be

inspected and allowed to air dry as you want

to avoid any form of fungal infections around

the nipple area. General hygiene is

paramount during breastfeeding and frequent

inspection of baby’s oral cavity is something

to keep in mind. The best form of bra is

cotton and if breast pads are used they must

be changed frequently. Breast feeding for

Joyce as a mother of two who breast fed her

children past the age 12 months was very

fulfilling. It’s a time to bond with your new

born and the benefits are immeasurable.

Breast feeding should not be painful and it is

nature’s way of supplying the newborn with

the best easy digestible adequate form of

nutrients in the first few months of their life.

As a licensed instructor, Joyce Asabor uses

a pragmatic problem solving approach, sensitive

to the culture, concerns, and questions of the

learner. She educates and supports parents and

families and encourages mothers to breastfeed

their babies as this is beneficial to them and their

babies, if not contraindicated by their physician.

Breast milk is natural and easily digested by

babies and it’s a win–win situation for mother

and baby.

The many advantages of breast feeding to both

mother and baby will be discussed in the next

segment.

If you would like to consult with Joyce Asabor on

any issues regarding Breastfeeding, she is

available on email@ asabor.joyce@gmail.com or

atimothyjoyce@aol.com