BF tips for my sister being induced next week?

[runnervt]

As she's not getting the homebirth she hoped for I'd really like to help her get breastfeeding off to as good a start as possible so any tips on this would be great. They think her baby will be a bit small and will be born at 37weeks if that makes any difference.
Thanks

Just get that baby on the boob as quick as possible and as much as possible. Also, it may take 4 days for milk to come in proper. But when it does it will come in with a bang.

ok, why is she being induced? are they worried about the size of baby

she needs to try to avoid too many narcotic drugs if possible as they can make the baby sleep, and might depress the sucking reflex esp if baby is a bit small . 37 weeks does count as full term though.

agree with SML..baby to the breast , skin to skin, have a look at the 'breast crawl' video , i can link to that later.....if for any reason baby does not take to the breast or is seperated from mum, then insist on cup feeding and not a bottle.

LOTS of skin to skin contact should help. She might well have a difficult time of it as in my experience inductions at 37w don't really work. Good luck

whats the science behind skin to skin? is it about bonding, or does it help with bf? ds is 5wks and i'm bf n doing alot of it coz here about it so much but feel a bit of a div for not knowing why.

runnervt - just tell her to stick at it and relax. i had emergency section after a long labour and ds was taken straight away. bf just wasn't happening for the first 2 days. i was so exhausted and worriedhe was getting anything that i begged mw to do something - felt useless as poor thing just didn't know what to do. he got a tiny amount of formula (tried and failed exprssing) in a syringe n then next day he was away!never looked back. he's a very efficient feeder and i'm expressing great. biggest advice is to relax n don't think she's failed if doesn't happen immediatly, stick at it x

Bags of science about skin to skin - it works directly on the breastfeeding by stimulating hormones in the baby and the mother, plus neurological responses which aid milk prodiction and milk transfer. Yes, it appears to help with bonding too.

Thanks for the tips - I'll pass them on.

Also, some moms give up bf b/c of sore nipples etc. I recommend getting some kind of nipple cream (Lanolin) so that her nipples don't crack and get sore...I'm sure that would be enough for anyone to quit. This was my lifesaver!

I was induced at 37 weeks (for no good medical reason - ) for my first baby and getting bf established took a bit of effort but it worked. My baby ended up in the neonatal unit for 6 days and I could not put her to the breast all the time so I hired an electric pump. It was not so much fun to sit there attached to a milking machine but it worked (and I watched a lot of TV). I BF'd DD until she was 9 months old and we both thrived on it.