Infant Significance

Lactation consultants are a vital part of the healthcare system. Together with the rest of the healthcare team they make sure that mother and baby's care as a breastfeeding pair is complete. The International Board Certified Lactation Consultant represents the "gold standard" in lactation consultant credentialing. Lactation consultants who carry the credentials IBCLC behind their names are specially trained and qualified to assist with every aspect of breastfeeding. I chose the topic of lactation consulting because I feel strongly about being a breastfeeding advocate. I believe that those in the healthcare field, especially the people involved in woman’s health and pediatrics should be knowledgeable

The audience intended for this paper are mothers that have a desire to breastfeed, employers, clinicians, breastfeeding advocacy groups and federal and state legislators involved in policy change.

This journal article did research about the cause and effect of breastfeeding on women who have postpartum depression (PPD). They did research on the mother’s mental health status at the different time of postpartum, and inspected how breastfeeding could affect the mothers. The research found out that the effect of breastfeeding on postnatal depression is heterogeneous. Whether or not the

There are more than 70% of premature babies that are born between 34 and 36 weeks gestation a year. When a baby is born early, or born with birth defects, the Neonatal Intensive Care unit is its first home. The nurse’s in the NICU have the difficult job of preparing baby’s and parents for a health life together. A baby who has been put into the NICU will stay there until it is healthy enough to go home.

AHRQ. (2009). Breastfeeding, Maternal & Infant Health Outcomes. Retrieved January 22, 2015, from Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality: http://archive.ahrq.gov/clinic/tp/brfouttp.htm

Very few experts disagree with the fact that breastfeeding is the optimal choice for the infant. However, decreasing breastfeeding rates raise many questions as to why mothers are not choosing the best nutritional choice for their children. Despite breast milk being the obvious choice for infant feeding due to the health, psychological, and economic benefits, many mothers still decide to feed their infants formula due to lack of knowledge and support, difficulties with breastfeeding, and social embarrassment. Changes need to be made with formula companies, medical professionals, and the public opinion of breastfeeding in order to give nursing mothers the support they deserve.

Rationale: For first time mother breastfeeding can become a frustrating duty when they do not have the necessary resources available for them to use. The mother may be able to properly breastfeed her infant while at the hospital with the lactational consultant and nursing staff at her bedside helping her. Yet when she goes home with the newborn, she may be discouraged to breastfeed the infant because difficulties may arise . As a result, it is necessary for the mother to have at her disposition resources that she can utilize if need it. La Leche League is an excellent resource that supports mothers who are breastfeeding. Also, lactational consultants are great at providing help for mothers who are breastfeeding. Mothers can join support groups where they can openly talk about everything concerning breastfeeding their infants (Lowdermilk, Perry, Cashion, and Alden, 2012).

Breastfeeding provides unique nutrients for the baby, protects from disease, has health benefits for the mother, and provides a unique bond between mother and baby.

Prematurity is the primary cause of increasing infants’ serious illnesses and deaths in the United States (CDC, December 2014).Preterm infants are more likely to have developmental delays, impaired cognitive growth, and behavioral problems as compared to their normal counterparts. Also, the expenditure for the care of premature babies is constantly increasing due to their extended stay in Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Previous studies have estimated that the Average daily expense of NICU stay is over $ 3000 for each preterm infant (Muraskas& Parsi 2008). The longer the stay, more will be the cost. The length of NICU stay depends upon the gestational age and complications associated with prematurity. The

"Up to 12% of deliveries in developed countries are preterm." This is approximately 500,000 premature births per year. In 2009, my cousin was born ten weeks prematurely, weighing merely two pounds, four ounces. After spending a copious amount of time in and out of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) with my family over the course of a month, I developed an interest in its operation. Being a neonatologist became my leading occupation of interest. I chose to further research this topic in hopes of finding out whether or not this is the career path for me. In my research paper, I plan to go into further detail about the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), common medical conditions found in premature infants, how to react and treat these medical conditions, and necessary education to become a neonatologist.

Premature birth occurs in 11.7% of pregnancies in the United States. With the introduction of new technology in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), premature infants are now kept alive at lower birth weights, with more severe diagnoses, and a greater likelihood of surviving to discharge to be cared for by parents.( Brady E. Hamilton; Joyce A. Marti; Stephanie J. Ventura 2012 p.305) An important role to neonatal nursing includes consultation, research, and education of families and staff.

For thousands of years, breastfeeding has been the main source that women have had to feed their babies. In today’s society, however, breastfeeding has become a controversial issue due to the increased sexualization of the female body, especially women’s breasts. This same society has failed to consider the benefits that breastfeeding mothers offer to society and, most importantly, the benefits breastfeeding offers to children. It is important to consider and remember that breastfeeding is natural and nursing mothers should be free to nurse everywhere because it is their legal right, it is the first source of nutrition for their children, it eliminates excess waste in the environment, and it benefits society.

We explored the bond created between mother and child, the health benefits for babies, and the many ways in which a mother benefits from breastfeeding.

In completing post-class questionnaires, participants scored significantly higher for breastfeeding knowledge, rated breastfeeding as significantly more important, and cited significantly higher confidence levels in breastfeeding than in pre-class questionnaires. In the 6-week postpartum interview, 70 of the original 153 mothers were interviewed. 91% were

Breastfeeding is an experience that is foreign for most people until they actually experience it. I had limited knowledge of breastfeeding until I interviewed my friend who currently has two children. Before she had her first child, she read a lot of books and watched a lot of videos, but they still didn’t quite capture the experience. She is a nurse and with her healthcare background, she felt confident about the importance of breastfeeding her children, especially in the first 6 -12 months. Before her baby, she was worried about the physical process and what it would feel like. After birth, she was more worried about her baby being able to breastfeed. For the first few weeks, her baby was having a hard time breastfeeding and she had to occasionally