Planning to breastfeed your newborn? In this episode, I talk with none other than Dr. Jack Newman on what to expect, what to avoid, and when to ask for help, in order to get breastfeeding off to a good start.
What we talked about:
- Preparing for a good breastfeeding relationship
- What good support looks like
- Why skin-to-skin
- How do you know if baby’s getting enough milk?
- The obsession with baby’s weight, and how it can create unnecessary angst
- Sore nipples – causes and best cures
- Why your pediatrician (or PCP) probably knows nothing about breastfeeding
- Why Jack hates nipple shields (and –for different reasons– he also dislikes kale)
- Jaundice and breastfeeding
Great videos, links and resources*:
Dr. Newman’s books: Dr. Jack Newman’s Guide to Breastfeeding and Breastfeeding: Empowering Parents, Interactive version
Information on a good asymmetrical latch here and here
Here you can see all of the videos that Jack mentioned on the show (and more!), including:
- Video showing good drinking
- Video showing nibbling
- Video of 28 hour old baby doing baby-led, mother-guided latching
- A 10-hour old baby breastfeeding
- A 2-day old feeding with breast compressions
Along with many valuable handouts, and in many languages
And here’s what KellyMom.com has for you on newborns.
Related Birthful episodes:
- Why Breastfeeding a Newborn is Different, with Theresa Nesbitt
- Breastfeeding Preparation, with Cindy Leclerc
- Common Breastfeeding Struggles, with Kathleen Kendall-Tackett
- 11 Breastfeeding Need-to-Knows, with Robin Kaplan
- Breastfeeding & Going Back to Work, with Nancy Mohrbacher
- Jaundice, with Jack Newman
About Dr. Jack Newman
You most likely know Dr. Newman from the book that he wrote with Teresa Pitman, titled Dr. Jack Newman’s Guide to Breastfeeding. More recently, he wrote the book interactive book Breastfeeding: Empowering Parents. He also has a great DVD resource called Dr. Jack Newman’s Visual Guide to Breastfeeding.
In 1984, Jack founded the first hospital based breastfeeding clinic in Canada, and has been a consultant for UNICEF for the Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative, evaluating the first candidate hospitals in Gabon, the Ivory Coast and Canada.
Jack has written articles or given talks on possibly anything that may affect breastfeeding, including medications, jaundice, formula use, nipple confusion, nipple pain, latch, prematurity, nipple shields, and ways to encourage, support and maintain breastfeeding relationships.
He currently works at the Newman Breastfeeding Clinic of the International Breastfeeding Centre, based at the Canadian College of Naturopathic Medicine in Toronto, where creates many breastfeeding resources and helps moms diagnose breastfeeding concerns, treat pain, address milk supply issues, and concerns around babies’ health as related to feeding, and help to prevent future problems.
You can contact Dr. Newman through his contact form on his website: ibconline.ca (he’s really good at getting back to you!), tap into his informational resources in many languages (including all the fabulous videos that we mentioned), or join the conversation on Facebook.
Title music: “Vibe Ace” by Kevin MacLeod, from the Free Music Archive / CC BY (edited for length).
Sponsorship music: “Air Hockey Saloon” by Chris Zabriskie, from the Free Music Archive / CC BY (edited for length).