Breastfeed with Confidence
Options for Parents & Caregivers
The breastfeeding journey is a beautiful experience that nourishes your baby and fosters a natural bond between you, creating a unique and special connection.
While many factors can pose challenges to breastfeeding, we advocate for parents or caregivers to seek knowledge during pregnancy to take control of their breastfeeding journey, instilling confidence and capability for when the baby arrives.
As the ETSU Health Director of Lactation Services, Gloria Dudney is dedicated to providing personalized care. With her extensive experience and expertise as a Registered Nurse and Registered Lactation Consultant, she listens to your family's needs, breastfeeding preferences and concerns.
In the consultation she establishes a care plan uniquely designed to meet your needs before and after birth, ensuring you feel supported and understood.
My goal is always interdisciplinary collaboration and trying to help with continuity
of care.
Breastfeeding Options
Various breastfeeding options are available to all, each with its own benefits. The main benefit of breastfeeding is the milk, as it contains essential nutrients and antibodies. Whether it be hand expression, pumps, or natural breastfeeding, you can use different techniques to ensure that you can feed and nourish your children.
Feeding at the breast is an excellent option that allows skin-to-skin contact and provides a physical bond with the baby.
Did you know that your hands are an excellent tool for breastfeeding?
According to the CDC, expressing breast milk by hand is an important skill for lactating women to learn. This technique can benefit those who find it difficult or painful to use pumps and can encourage milk production in the early stages of lactation.
Manually expressing breast milk can also be helpful in situations where using a pump or having the baby feed at the breast are not feasible. In emergencies where parents or caregivers do not have access to proper pumping equipment, hand expression can provide relief in breast engorgement which helps the baby latch on more easily.
Specialized equipment like a breast pump can also fit into each family's individualized care plan and feeding options. Not all are able to breastfeed naturally at times. In these cases, using pumps to store breast milk for later is a great idea.
