By Brittany Elise Anderson RN-NICU, CLC
As a NICU nurse, newborn photographer, lactation consultant, and mother of two I have always been an advocate for mother and baby connections. The act of producing and providing breastmilk to our new little babies is one of our most precious roles as moms. It is often our first “challenge” as new mothers (and yes, it is a huge challenge) and many of us enter into it with fears, anxiety, questions, and doubts. It is my hope, that after reading this post, you will feel educated, but also empowered, as we are uniquely built for this task and opportunity in our babies’ lives.
Breastmilk is quite possibly the most powerful medicine a baby can receive while in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). It is one of the most calorically dense liquids produced in the human body. In the first few days following birth, the milk produced by mom is extremely thick and rich. Not only is breastmilk a rich nutritional staple, but also the first line of defense for a new little one. More important than nutrition, are breastmilk’s germ-fighting antibodies, helping to build babies’ immune systems. This is the main reason why it is so important for moms to try and produce milk early post-partum and why those first few drops are called “liquid gold” by NICU staff.
At birth, a premature baby’s immune system is undeveloped and extremely vulnerable. They haven’t had the exposure to bacteria, viruses, and fungi necessary for developing their own immunity, but a mom’s exposure to these “bugs” over her lifetime has left her body packed full of immensely powerful immune cells. To use a simple analogy, it is almost like a mom giving her child a cheatsheet of every test she ever took in school so they have a head start in life. Breastmilk can serve as a baby’s first round of immunizations and gives them a substantial head start in the immunity department. But the more amazing part of this whole process is the uniquely created antibodies that are custom built exclusively for her baby. When a mother touches and exposes her body to the same germs and bacteria that her baby is being exposed to, she begins to produce “custom-made” milk just for her baby!
Not only is the immune system underdeveloped in premature babies, but the respiratory, gastric and intestinal systems (GI) are too. When a baby has immature lungs they will frequently drop their blood oxygen levels. When this happens the body shunts blood to the most important organs including the brain. Even just a few drops of a mothers breastmilk can help to coat and protect the lining of the GI system and reduce the occurrence of these problems.
In extreme prematurity (less than 28 weeks) a baby may not be able to even digest food. Doctors will begin to introduce milk by swabbing the babies mouth with the mother’s breast milk. This allows for the body to begin receiving those amazing germ-fighting antibodies and also “prime” the GI tract for digestion. Breastmilk helps with GI motility and digestion and data shows that very premature babies have better outcomes when breastmilk is introduced early on, specifically outcomes related to nutrition and GI function.
I know this is a ton of science but hopefully, this helps you to better understand just how amazing breastmilk is and why it is so important for a premature baby or ANY baby for that matter.
hospital bedrest for preeclampsia, where she received a HRH Bed Rest Basket. After four weeks in the hospital, a spike in blood pressure caused her to have Henry and Nora six weeks early. The babies spent several weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit, where they each received a HRH NICU Napsack. Once their entire family was healthy and home, Bailey began volunteering at HRH, delivering bags to patients and helping with various fundraising initiatives.
working, creative, intelligent,
I was diagnosed with severe preeclampsia while pregnant with my twins. During the last two weeks of my pregnancy, I nervously watched my blood pressure increase twofold, despite being on medication for preterm labor that coincidentally was also blood pressure medication. I gained 13 pounds of water weight in as many days. At my regularly scheduled perinatal appointment, a growth ultrasound showed that my daughter had not grown in two weeks, a result of high blood pressure. The doctor took my blood pressure, which measured 160/98 (my normal blood pressure is 100/60). He looked at me and said, “Whoa! What do you think would happen if we took you off the massive amounts of blood pressure medication you are currently taking?” My eyes welled up as I looked at him with relief that a doctor agreed with what I knew had been happening for two weeks. I had preeclampsia and the babies needed to come immediately.
couldn’t decide between High Risk Hope and The Humane Society of Tampa Bay. Both are worthy causes but it’s ‘really hard’ to pick between babies and animals. I feel her pain. There is a good chance she will pick the puppies, which is OK with me (at least publicly).
The Giving Tree correlates to a fantastic prize. Toys, $10- $50 Columbia gift cards, Kendra Scott Jewelry, a Pottery Barn Kids rocking horse and gift certificates from various Hyde Park Village stores. Claire and Hill have seen me loading these prizes for weeks. If someone donates $25 to HRH on Give Day Tampa Bay, they can pick a leaf off of the HRH Giving Tree by the fountain in Hyde Park. The idea, just like in the book The Giving Tree, is to give away all of our leaves throughout the day, and end up with only a stump. Every grown-up donor will receive a shopping pass full of discounts to Hyde Park Village stores and restaurants. We are going to roll out the purple carpet for every one of our HRH donors on Give Day, no matter how much they give.
your tomorrows will look a lot like yesterday. Make the choice to do something, knowing that the first step will be the hardest but also the most rewarding. The most difficult thing I have ever done in regards to HRH is having that first conversation with my husband in 2011 telling him the idea. Before I made the jump I wondered, what if he thinks I can’t do it? What if he won’t support me? He not only supported me, he was all in. The person you confide in with your future plans will have the same reaction. You just need to take the first step and tell them.
HRH’s motto is the Ellen Johnson Sirleaf quote, ‘If your dreams do not scare you they are not big enough.’ If I wake up in the middle of the night at least once a week because of something big we have in the works for HRH, I know we are on the right path. That feeling in the pit of your stomach that you get before something big (a public speech, a promotion, a wedding or a major life change) is the same feeling for every person. It is how you label it that will separate you from being a success or failure. I label that feeling as excitement about an opportunity rather than nervousness and anxiety about a potential failure.
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