When shebreastfed她的第一个孩子,丽贝卡·贝恩(Rebecca Bain)特别艰难的一件事是她丈夫缺乏支持。如此艰难,以至于他的消极情绪是她仅在头八周才抚养婴儿的主要原因之一。

“我有很多问题建立喂养,但是他没有支持,更担心知道婴儿吃了多少,还有我的乳房是否会比对婴儿(或我)最好的乳房相比,”丽贝卡(Rebecca)住在英国的萨福克,告诉Healthline。雷竞技app官网

“我感到很孤单,我觉得我无法谈论这些问题,因为他对此不友善。我丈夫的不支持肯定会影响我母乳喂养多长时间。”

我本人很幸运能有一个丈夫在我努力母乳喂养我的两个婴儿时都得到了支持 - 他和我一起去见顾问,他的鼓励是我能够继续喂养的原因之一,直到我准备停止停止,那是五个月。

“如果您与父亲一起工作,那么它可能会对连续率产生真正的影响,这对婴儿来说更好,对母亲更好。”- 警长博士

But stories like Rebecca’s are sadly all too common, according to Dr. Nigel Sherriff of the University of Brighton, who’s been researching the impact of fathers and other partners on helping women to breastfeed.

他说:“有证据表明,即使与父亲的干预最少也可以对六周及以后的母乳喂养产生重大影响。”就像在澳大利亚进行的.

This 2013 trial showed a significant increase (6.4%)在父亲参加母乳喂养课程的小组中,护理率。

Sherriff博士说,重要的是鼓励合作伙伴更好地了解母乳喂养。

“如果您与父亲一起工作,那么它可能会对连续率产生真正的影响,这对婴儿来说更好,对母亲更好。”

这种意识可以帮助他们避免在认为事情进展不顺利的情况下施加压迫母亲换成配方奶粉,或者父亲觉得自己无法与婴儿结盟。

但是谢里夫博士说,向他们展示如何以实用的方式支持他们的伴侣也很重要。这包括与他们一起上课之类的东西,以便他们可以帮助定位,进行家庭工作以及帮助他们的合作伙伴在公开场合时找到喂食的地方。

“Breastfeeding is bloody hard and sometimes it’s just simply about being around,” he acknowledges. “3 a.m. nursing can be quite a miserable [and] lonely place — it can be nice just having someone there to talk to.”

“没有她的支持,我可能会放弃[母乳喂养]。”- 克里斯汀·莫雷诺斯(Kristen Morenos)

His advice to partners of breastfeeding mothers is this: Learn about the process before the baby is born, and then get more support in the first few months after the birth. And again later, if the mother wants to continue to do extended breastfeeding.

他说,理想情况下,这种支持将来自受过训练的专业人员,但即使仅仅阅读了这一过程也可能会有所帮助。

他补充说,父亲或伴侣的另一个角色是倡导母亲面对其他人施加压力以退出护理。这包括她可能认为她可以依靠的人,例如她自己的母亲和卫生专业人员。

One woman who relied on her partner is Kristen Morenos, who lives with her wife Stacia in Augusta, Georgia. Stacia stood up for Kristen when her mother was encouraging her to swap to formula.

“Without her support, I would likely have given up,” she said. “No one else seemed to be on my side. My mother kept telling me ‘everyone has to use formula at some point’ and the pediatricians only cared about numbers, not that she was gaining on her own curve and had plenty of soiled and wet diapers.”

克里斯汀(Kristen)的女儿索耶(Sawyer)一年前出生,他说她发现母乳喂养比她预期的要难得多。

“哺乳顾问一直告诉我我有一个懒惰的婴儿,这令人沮丧。”

The breastfeeding parent relies heavily on their partner or family for support.

She struggled on with the support of Stacia who, she said, was extremely involved in the breastfeeding process. This included hiring a new breastfeeding counselor to come to the house, and staying with her throughout the consultation so she could help later with positioning.

“Stacia’s support was amazing and kept me going.”

根据 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) , breastfeeding initiation rates in the United States are actually quite high: In 2013, four out of five 婴儿开始母乳喂养。

However, this figure had dropped to just over half by six months, indicating that many mothers weren’t continuing to feed as recommended and weren’t necessarily getting the support they needed.

Tina Castellanos,La Leche League USACouncil President, tells us that most moms only stay at the hospital for a couple of days after the baby’s born — and in that time, they may not see anyone for lactation support. They’re then unlikely to get any help from healthcare professionals once they’re home unless they paid for it.

取而代之的是,母乳喂养的父母在很大程度上依靠他们的伴侣或家人来支持。

出于这个原因,卡斯特罗说:“我们建议那t the partner take a breastfeeding class with the birthing parent and that the partner be present during the early days to help with latch and positioning.”

毫无疑问,母乳喂养 - 如果您选择喂养婴儿的话 - 是早期育儿中最困难的部分之一。雷竞技ray

她补充说,合作伙伴可以通过许多实用方法来帮助护理母亲。这可能很简单,就像确保她在母乳喂养时有水和零食,设置枕头和使她更舒适的空间。

However, she cautions: “We don’t suggest the nursing parent pump early for the partner to give a bottle, but instead that the partner wakes with the mom at night to help change the diaper, hold [the] baby, etc., while the mum gets set up to nurse.”

Of course, not everyone has a partner to help them through those difficult early months.

苏珊娜·洛克(Suzanne Locke)是一个来自伦敦的单身母亲,儿子过早出生了10周。她说,助产士在新生儿重症监护室(NICU)中非常有帮助,但是一旦她回家,她就独自一人。

幸运的是,她在一个儿童中心发现了一家母乳喂养咖啡馆,靠近她住在那儿,那里学到了“悠闲”母乳喂养的地方。她告诉Healthline:“这使我的小家伙的回流有助于我的回流 - 并伸出了我的手。”雷竞技app官网

“ [能够躺下和喂养而无需用我的手臂抱着我的孩子]作为一个独奏妈妈,没有伴侣来帮助。喂食时我可以吃或喝一杯茶 - 当我的宝宝聚类喂食时非常重要,有时几乎每小时!”

毫无疑问,母乳喂养 - 如果您选择喂养婴儿的话 - 是早期育儿中最困难的部分之一。雷竞技ray

在怀孕期间,许多母亲只专注于分娩本身,而不必考虑是否需要为自己或伴侣做好准备来护理新生儿。

As Dr. Sherriff explains it: A little bit of “homework” before the birth for both the mother and her partner can make a real difference. As can knowing what to expect when you have your second or subsequent baby.

丽贝卡意识到这一点,到她生第二个孩子的时候,丈夫已经改变了他的意见,她喂了六个月。

她在第三次将其提高到了整整一年。但是由于几个月前出生的第四个婴儿,她决心再进一步。这次,她只有在她和她的孩子准备就绪时才停止。


克拉拉·威金斯(Clara Wiggins)是英国自由作家和训练有素的产前老师。她撰写了从科学到皇室的任何内容,并由英国广播公司,华盛顿邮报,独立,WSJ,Euronews和其他媒体出版。她曾在世界各地生活,工作和旅行,但目前与丈夫,两个女儿和他们的微型Schnauzer Cooper定居在英格兰西部。