These changes give the new mother the personal empowerment, physical strength and an intuitive sense of what her baby needs. Buckley describes the hormonal orchestra accompanying undisturbed birth, and how these hormones not only support the birth process, but also suffuse the brains of a new mother and her baby, catalysing profound neurological changes. In her book ‘Gentle Birth, Gentle Mothering’, Dr Sarah J. Let’s take a closer look at what this means in practice.īefore examining the role of all the various interventions, it’s important to recognise the important positive contribution that a good, natural birth makes to breastfeeding.īirth is a complex process that is extremely sensitive to outside influences, of which the fundamentals are still poorly understood. Many women don’t realise this in fact, many do not prepare for breastfeeding at all, assuming that it is something that will come naturally. Increasingly research is showing that the birth option a woman chooses and the way births are conducted influence breastfeeding. This makes South Africa one of the countries with the lowest breastfeeding rates in the world.
However, only 10% of babies were breastfed exclusively in the first three months of life, with less than 8% reaching the 6 month mark. Most new mothers plan to breastfeed their babies and, according to the South African Demographic and Health Survey of 1998, approximately 88% of mothers initiated breastfeeding at birth.
(This article is also available in an audio format)īy Christine Klynhans – BCurI et A, SACLC – SA certified lactation consultant
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