Sometimes a newborn baby may need supplemental feeding using formula. Healthcare staff at the birth, maternity hospital and at the BVC should be able to help and inform about what applies to each child. Supplemental feeding from birth often concerns babies who are born prematurely or who were born with a relatively low birth weight. Sometimes children who lose more than 10% of their birth weight may also need to be fed with supplements in the form of formula. For some who want to breastfeed, it takes longer to start milk production, whereupon the child may also need to be given formula to get enough energy in the first few days. If the desire is to be able to breastfeed, it is important to still actively try to stimulate milk production, for example by letting the child suckle at the breast. There is plenty of support and help available to get started with breastfeeding, even if the child is not sucking for some reason. As a rule, the closer the birth is, the easier it is to stimulate milk production.
Kristin Svensson, midwife and breastfeeding specialist at Karolinska University Hospital, gives the following four tips for getting breast milk production started in cases where the baby is not sucking:
- Continue to have lots of skin-to-skin contact: it stimulates breastfeeding behavior
- Stimulate your breasts at least 8 times a day
- It is better to stimulate for short periods of time and often, than for long periods of time and less often.
- The sooner you start, the faster more milk will come.
Reference: Svensson, K. 2019-06-19. Compilation: Things to consider when the child receives extra milk formula in addition to breastfeeding. Karolinska University Hospital
Read the summary in its entirety at: https://www.karolinska.se/for-patienter/graviditet-och-forlossning/for-den-nya-familjen/amning-rad-och-tips/att-tanka-pa-nar-barnet-far-extra-mjolkersattning-formula/
