Why so many mothers abandon breastfeeding?

Often for lack of information, time and support from health professionals, mothers are sometimes left to themselves when they want to breastfeed their newborn. Result: many of them go from breast to bottle. According to a recent study by the DREES, two in three newborns are breastfed at birth, so it is not the lack that is missing. In 2013, there were 66 % to be fed within, but their proportion fell to 40 % to 11 weeks, 30 % to 4 months and 18 % to 6 months. “”Too hard, too bad, too much doubts … Pressure and anxiety often make them abandon. However, many admit “that they would have continued if they had been told everything“, Explains Caroline Guillot, author of the Tetees-entetees.fr blog and illustrator. Herself confronted with medical staff with a different opinion on breastfeeding and sometimes discouraging, she decides to respond with humor to” aberrant “remarks of the type:”Your breasts are not in the right size“, Or “You don’t have a nipple, you can’t breastfeed“…

“”I wanted to create this site to bring a different approach to what could be found on breastfeeding. Some sites were too “pro-seizure”, other blogs of nursing mothers were relaying their daily lives a little too much. Here, the tone is light and offbeat, and the content provides essential information to young mothers “, explains Caroline Guyot. Practical sheets on breastfeeding at work, withdrawal, preservation of milk, the use of the breast pump, the different positions to put baby in … are offered to mothers to answer all their questions about breastfeeding. “Do I have enough milk? Do he eat enough? How to treat the crevices? …”Young mothers ask themselves a lot of questions and that is completely normal!“, specifies Caroline Guillot,”Preparation courses for childbirth do not prepare, or very little for breastfeeding“And then, at maternity, the staff (often in sub-employed) are not always trained on this point.”Above all, you have to trust yourself and your baby, accept the idea of ​​doing “on demand”.

Doctors are not trained enough. Catherine Salinier, pediatrician, joins the author of the Tetees-entetees.fr blog on the lack of support and follow-up. “”There are few courses on breastfeeding and when tackled, it is only the composition of breast milk, but not practical and technical resolutions“, she says.”In some maternities, the wise women and childcare auxiliaries are better trained, however, women only stay three days in maternity, while the first month is the most difficult“, Adds the specialist. Back home, they must then find midwives or doctors trained in breastfeeding, or lactation advisers (few and not well known).”Mothers who come out of maternity, a fortiori if it is their first breastfeeding, must be able to turn to competent staff to overcome these difficulties“, advises Catherine Salinier.

What aid for breastfeeding mothers? At the end of maternity, women can contact a midwife close to their home, to ask him for advice. PMI centers, pediatricians and healthcare professionals can also help young mothers in their efforts. Some liberal midwives even move at home. If you are breastfeeding and go back to work after a maternity leave, know that you have an hour to breastfeed your baby or to pull your milk at your workplace. “”Remember that the 10th day medical consultation recommended by the High Authority for Health (HAS) is also an opportunity to verify that baby feeds properly and thus overcoming breastfeeding difficulties“.

What should be done? “”Health professionals should give mothers more time. You have to be able to attend a feeding, to judge the state of mind of the mother and her know-how“, so as to be able to advise her and better guide her, advises Catherine Salinier. According to her, maternity leave should be much longer, at the rate of 6 months minimum. Existing parental leave is often difficult to take, in particular for financial reasons or for fear of not finding the same functions and responsibilities upon his return. Finally, the French Association of Ambulatory Pediatrics (AFPA) offers training to pediatricians wise women, so that they can better answer the parents’ questions.We tend to install women in this breastfeeding injunction and the latter feel some pressure from society. At the same time, they do not know how to do it, and therefore feel guilty“, Analysis the pediatrician. However,”This will therefore improve that health professionals will be better trained and we are increasingly progressing“, she reassures.