We asked ourselves a few days ago which doctor is the one who can best care for a breastfeeding mother. It seems that the answer is not clear. Indeed, the treatment and recommendations that a nursing mother may receive, depending on the circumstances, are very unsatisfactory and, many times, are not the necessary guide to carry the Breastfeeding To good port. So, Who can help us better?
Perhaps the question was not broad enough since for me the answer is clear: the health professional who can best attend, accompany and help a woman who breastfeeds is, without a doubt, the midwife. The midwife is a figure who is frequently not given the role of relevance in Spain during pregnancy, childbirth and breastfeeding. In other countries, however, these professionals help millions of women to successfully breastfeed their babies by significantly improving the success rates of breastfeeding.
The German case
Unfortunately, there are few statistics available on breastfeeding rates in Germany, although the few studies and comparisons that exist point to a much higher percentage of successful breastfeeding compared to other European countries such as France and Spain. My personal experience is that a very high percentage of German mothers breastfeed for at least the first six months.
After having lived two maternity homes in Spain and two in Germany, I believe that one of the main factors for the German woman to breastfeed longer and for longer is precisely the extended support of midwives during pregnancy, childbirth and, above all , the puerperium.
Without leaving home
The first of my daughters born in Germany was the third. At that time I had already successfully breastfed my first two daughters and considered myself an expert in the field. When I was raised that I had the right to receive visits from a midwife at home during postpartum I thought I didn't need it at all.
However, at the insistence of my friends and how the health insurance, both public and private, cover it, I thought that maybe I could save some visit to the pediatrician and requested the services of a midwife for after delivery.
How does it work
First I talked to her to tell her my history, my previous births etc. We agreed to let him know when the girl was born and knew when we were discharged. Anyway he told me that for any doubt or concern that arose before I could call him at any time.
When the girl was born and I knew when we would be discharged I called her, I told her the details of the delivery and we agreed that she would come home the day I arrived from the hospital. She weighed the girl, checked her belly button, checked that my bleeding was normal and would have looked at the points if I had them.
Then he was watching how I was holding my chest and, above all, it solved a problem that I had already had with the previous two, monstrous rises of milk that are tremendously painful and had cost me more than a tear.
First she put the girl to my chest in a specific position to suck the knot of milk that had formed. I have never seen a baby breastfeed as my daughter did with the assistance of this lady who left my chest as new in a shot. He emptied both my breasts and gave me some guidelines to follow to regulate milk production.
Continued and tailored support
During the following days he came daily to check my chest, evaluate the general condition of the baby and resolve any doubts or problems I might have. If everything went well, he didn't stay more than five minutes, but if I needed it, I spent much more time. Little by little he was spacing his visits but was always available by phone. A month later, he gave me the "discharge" but told me that I could continue calling her at any time if I had any problems. And I had it.
Two weeks later I had a mastitis with fever and spirits. He came right away and helped me get through it without taking antibiotics or going to the doctor. For several days he came several times a day to make sure that my chest emptied well to avoid infections, forced me to sleep and stay in bed and gave me the support and care to overcome it without leaving my house.
Experienced mothers also need support
Many times we can think that only new mothers need help, but it is not. Many times it is the second or third child who poses new challenges or has a more complicated breastfeeding.
When I became pregnant with our fourth daughter, I called the same midwife again and her visits during the postpartum period proved to be of tremendous utility again. On the one hand, I watched a slight jaundice that the baby had, helped me to begin with the exercises for the recovery of the pelvic floor and returned to solve a mastitis in the blink of an eye.
Today, pregnant with my fifth daughter, with more than sixty months of breastfeeding behind my back, I have not hesitated to call her again to return to attend the puerperium. I know that nobody can offer me better support and guidance with any problem that may arise.
Every healthcare professional has its place but in what Breastfeeding refers i think who can help us better She is a midwife. Midwives should recover their rightful place because of their training and their experience as the most appropriate professionals to accompany women during childbirth, the puerperium and breastfeeding.
