What Every Health

Worker Should
Know About
Breastfeeding and
Rooming-In?
What are the benefits of
breastfeeding?
 What are the benefits of breastfeeding?

 Ideal and complete food for babies

 Has anti-bodies against many diseases
 Foster bonding
 Helps prevent post-delivery hemorrhage
 Protects mother against breast cancer
What are the policies or procedures
that can help promote
breastfeeding in hospital maternity
wards?
 What are the policies or procedures that can help
promote breastfeeding in hospital maternity wards?

 Early breastfeeding  No bottles, dummies

or pacifiers
 24 hour rooming-in
 Helping mothers to
 Demand feeding attach babies
 Build mother’s self-
confidence
What are the importance of
rooming-in?
 What are the importance of rooming-in?

 Facilitates bonding

 Permits breastfeeding on demand

 Closer contact with the father and

family
What are the importance of
on demand feeding?
 What are the importance of
on demand feeding?

Helps produce more milk

Prevents breast
engorgement
What is the major cause
of sore nipple?
 What is the major cause of sore nipple?

 Wrong attachment
What is the most
common cause of
insufficient milk?
Not feeding frequently
What is the most
common cause of
breast engorgement?
• Infrequent suckling or
ineffective suckling
How does prelacteal
feeding interfere with
breastfeeding?
 How does prelacteal feeding
interfere with breastfeeding?

 Decrease eagerness to
breastfeed

 May produce allergy reactions

 Givemothers’ a sense of
inadequacy
What are the key points
on the proper technique
on milk expression?
 Key Points on the Proper
Technique of Milk Expression
 Thumb on areola
above the nipple and
forefinger on the
areola below the
nipple

 Finger opposite, press

inwards towards chest
wall

 Do not slide finger on

skin
 Key Points on the Proper Technique of Milk Expression

 Repeat press-
release for several
minutes to
stimulate milk
ejection reflex

 Rotate around
nipple to compress
all sinuses
Proper Breastfeeding
position
 Tummy to tummy

 Eye contact

 Chin touching the breast

What Health Workers Can Do?
 Remove posters that advertise
formula or baby cereal
 Refuse to accept free gifts or
supplies of formula
 Refuse to allow free samples,
gifts or leaflets to be given to
mothers.
What Health Workers Can Do?
 Eliminate teaching of formula use
to every mother

 Identifycommercial promotion of
products that interfere with
breastfeeding

 Show employers how to support

breastfeeding
 What Health Workers Can Do?

 Promote
breastfeeding through the
news media
 Put
breastfeeding posters and
pamphlets in public places
 Educate school children
 Can you now be
interviewed by
the MBFHI
Assessors ?

Thank You