Better for Baby—And Your Family Budget
Gottlieb’s Lactation Specialists Teach New Moms Why Breast is Best
MELROSE PARK, Ill.- A whopping $2,066.67. That’s how much it costs to feed a baby for one year on a popular, mid-priced powder formula. Compare that with $152. 98. That’s the cost of a daily peanut butter sandwich and glass of milk that a nursing mom needs to eat to get the recommended 500 calories necessary to breastfeed a child daily for one year.
“With today’s economy, it’s easy to do the right thing for your baby and for yourself,” said Kari Phillips, RN, certified lactation consultant at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in Melrose Park. Phillips and Eileen Felish, RN, a certified breastfeeding counselor, help hundreds of women at Gottlieb each year to breastfeed their babies.
The advantages of breastfeeding are numerous and well-documented by research. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ National Women’s Health Information Center, babies who are breastfed have stronger immune systems, better digestive systems, fewer allergies and even have higher IQs than babies who are formula-fed.
And there are advantages for mothers, too. “I don’t have to buy formula and I can get back into my jeans faster,” said Krystal Jones, who is breastfeeding her daughter Kynnedi, born on February 17 at the Birth Center at Gottlieb. Jones breastfed her two older children as well. “It’s natural,” added baby Kynnedi’s father.
“Physical benefits to the mother include helping her to resume her pre-pregnancy shape faster. But there are also lesser-known benefits, such as such as the release of the hormone, prolactin, which promotes mother-infant bonding and feelings of wellbeing,” said Phillips.
Phillips, who in addition to consulting also teaches a breastfeeding-readiness course at Gottlieb, practices what she preaches. All four of her children were breastfed. “The last two are twins so I really feel like I earned my gold star credentials,” joked the La Grange resident. And so did Felish. “I personally was very reluctant to breastfeed but I had a great nurse who really encouraged me,” said the Melrose Park mother of two.
Felish has more than 30 years of nursing experience and Phillips has over a decade. “There are many early difficulties that may lead to a mother abandoning breast feeding in favor of the bottle,” she said. A common frustration of new mothers is waiting the first few days after birth for their milk supply to come in, said Felish. “We tell the new moms: ‘Ask questions; we have the answers,’” she said.
Here are Phillips and Felish’s tips to help new mothers successfully nurse their newborns:
Start Immediately after Birth
“Our Birth Center puts the baby on the breast moments after delivery,” said Phillips. “That’s when the baby is very alert and is ready to nurse.” Babies will become sleepy after bathing and being wrapped in a warm blanket, she said, and will be less interested in nursing.
Nurse on Demand
“Offer your breast to your baby when he or she wants it, and watch for feeding cues like baby turning his or her head to the side, opening his or her mouth and sticking hands in his or her mouth,” said Phillips. “Crying is actually the final signal of hunger made by a baby.”
Alternate Positions
“If a mom complains of soreness, it may mean that the baby is not latching on correctly,” said Felish. This problem is usually short-lived and can be corrected with positioning the baby differently. Gottlieb’s specialists offer new mothers diagrams and pamphlets on different techniques.
Relax and Be Open-Minded
“When moms complain that it isn’t happening like they read about in the book, I remind them that the baby didn’t read the book,” quipped Felish. Every labor and delivery is different; every baby is different; every breastfeeding experience is different.
Share the Love
“Having a strong support system, such as encouragement from the baby’s father, your mother or grandmother or friends who have breastfed is a real plus,” said Phillips.
In addition to sound advice, Gottlieb’s Birth Center has equipment to assist new moms, including breast pumps that moms can take home from the hospital with them. Pumps are helpful for working moms who want to continue breastfeeding.
For more information on breastfeeding from Phillips and Felish or for a tour of Gottlieb Memorial Hospital Birth Center, call (708) 681-3200. A tour of the Birth Center is also available at www.GottliebHospital.org.
Based in the western suburbs of Chicago, Loyola University Health System is a quaternary care system with a 61-acre main medical center campus, the 36-acre Gottlieb Memorial Hospital campus and 25 primary and specialty care facilities in Cook, Will and DuPage counties. The medical center campus is conveniently located in Maywood, 13 miles west of the Chicago Loop and 8 miles east of Oak Brook, Ill. The heart of the medical center campus, Loyola University Hospital, is a 561-licensed-bed facility. It houses a Level 1 Trauma Center, a Burn Center and the Ronald McDonald® Children’s Hospital of Loyola University Medical Center. Also on campus are the Cardinal Bernardin Cancer Center, Loyola Outpatient Center, Center for Heart & Vascular Medicine and Loyola Oral Health Center as well as the LUC Stritch School of Medicine, the LUC Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing and the Loyola Center for Fitness. Loyola's Gottlieb Memorial Hospital campus in Melrose Park includes the 264-bed community hospital, the Gottlieb Center for Fitness and the Marjorie G. Weinberg Cancer Care Center.
LOYOLA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SYSTEM
