Choosing Your Hospital
I just learned about "Baby Friendly Facilities." These are facilities that have specific standards in place to support breastfeeding, like making sure breastfeeding happens within the first hour of birth. You can click the image above to find hospitals in your state that have this label!
We used South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, MA for our third birth. It is not a disgnated Baby-Friendly Facility (I didn't know about that label until later). But I opted for a midwife when we got there, and they followed the "Baby Friendly" practices of no pacifier, skin-to-skin right away, and breastfeeding within an hour after birth.
Here are some things South Shore Hospital did that were different than Tufts (though my experience at Tufts was two years prior, so they may have changed since):
- I did not give birth lying down. I mean this literally. Yep, you don't have to be pinned to a table. I had a lot of pain in my lower back and when it came time for Sophie to make her way out, I looked at that table and wanted to puke. The midwife said no problem!
- I was asked if I wanted to "catch" my baby myself. I said no...I pride myself on my athletic abilities, but I was a little apprehensive about that one. But it was cool they asked.
- I was given my baby immediately after she came out.
- This one was the biggest difference, I think - I was told to delay giving a binkie until breastfeeding was well established, a few weeks in. Why? The rationale is this: if the baby wants to suck, she should be sucking on the mama's nipple. Every time she's on there is communication with the mom's body. Every time she's on there, her body is telling mom's, more milk, please! In other words, every time your baby wants to suck, that's an opportunity to stimulate your milk supply.
That last one seems like common sense now. But when you give birth, you're not exactly thinking clearly.
Thankfully, others are!
- Jessica
IT TAKES A VILLAGE! I'd love to hear what you think or what you have experienced, and I'm sure other readers would too. Please leave a comment below!
We used South Shore Hospital in Weymouth, MA for our third birth. It is not a disgnated Baby-Friendly Facility (I didn't know about that label until later). But I opted for a midwife when we got there, and they followed the "Baby Friendly" practices of no pacifier, skin-to-skin right away, and breastfeeding within an hour after birth.
Here are some things South Shore Hospital did that were different than Tufts (though my experience at Tufts was two years prior, so they may have changed since):
- I did not give birth lying down. I mean this literally. Yep, you don't have to be pinned to a table. I had a lot of pain in my lower back and when it came time for Sophie to make her way out, I looked at that table and wanted to puke. The midwife said no problem!
- I was asked if I wanted to "catch" my baby myself. I said no...I pride myself on my athletic abilities, but I was a little apprehensive about that one. But it was cool they asked.
- I was given my baby immediately after she came out.
- This one was the biggest difference, I think - I was told to delay giving a binkie until breastfeeding was well established, a few weeks in. Why? The rationale is this: if the baby wants to suck, she should be sucking on the mama's nipple. Every time she's on there is communication with the mom's body. Every time she's on there, her body is telling mom's, more milk, please! In other words, every time your baby wants to suck, that's an opportunity to stimulate your milk supply.
That last one seems like common sense now. But when you give birth, you're not exactly thinking clearly.
Thankfully, others are!
- Jessica
IT TAKES A VILLAGE! I'd love to hear what you think or what you have experienced, and I'm sure other readers would too. Please leave a comment below!