The science is clear. When it’s possible, breastfeeding provides a baby with its best nutrition to develop and avoid illness.
“I think it's the one thing that new moms worry the very most about they, they come in and they're so worried that they're not going to be able to care for this baby,” said Laura Rowbury, and Registered Nurse and lactation consultant for Intermountain Health.
On her watch, Rowbury has helped Intermountain achieve the highest available certification for helping new mothers breastfeed.
Utah has a lot of kids, but that doesn’t mean Utah mothers are immune from the same worries that plague women around the world.
“They're not feeling like themselves, right. And they're sleep deprived. So, it's that added stress when the feeding isn't going well. That causes a lot of issues for new moms,” said Rowbury.
Many of those issues can be resolved with education.
“If you can gain education prior to coming in, it helps to alleviate the fear and the concerns because you know what to expect,” she said.
At 21 birthing centers in the Intermountain Health system, that knowledge includes preparation for a delivery room experience.
Rowbury explained, “It used to be the baby came out. Mom held it for five minutes, and then we passed it around the room. And what that does is we thought oh, these babies are so cute. They just go right to sleep. No, they're stressed because what they need is their mom.”
That’s no longer standard procedure.
“As long as both mom and baby are stable, these babies come out and they go right here to the chest. And when they're here at the chest, their ear goes right next to mom's chest, and they can hear their mom's heartbeat. That's a familiar sound.
So not only is baby more comfortable and transitioned less fear, less panic or adrenaline fight or flight response. But these babies come here, and they bond with moms. And then they what's magical is within the first hour, they tell you when they're ready to feed, said Rowbury.
That may sound like a lactation consultant’s rose-colored glasses, but Rowbury will tell you otherwise.
“Our initial knee jerk reaction is if we make these moms keep the babies in their room, they're not going to get any sleep. And in reality, they get more sleep and the research backs that up.”
Of course, nothing goes perfectly. So breastfeeding support doesn’t end when the patients go home. Intermountain consultants are available in person and on the phone.
“Imagine a mom who lives three hours from a hospital, the ability for her to be able to pick up her phone and connect with somebody, an expert on the phone. That's huge for these mothers, it's going to make all the difference in the world,” said Rowbury.
Utah mothers breastfeed at higher rates than the national average, but there’s room for improvement. About 86 percent of Utah infants get some breastfeeding. 19 states have higher rates, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
