This weekend we have a new addition to the YinOva family. Congratulations to acupuncturist Sharon Yeung on the birth of her baby girl, Lila.

Recently the website, Urban Baby, featured the YinOva Center in an article entitled “Get Unstuck”. I was particularly happy to see how many of our patients commented and shared their experiences about our center. It reminded me how much we enjoy supporting you through the various transitions in your lives. Most of the women commenting had first visited us when they were trying to conceive and then continued to seek our help during pregnancy before bringing their babies (some of whom are now as old as 10!) in for a variety of childhood ailments. It is such a privilege to serve your families and watch your children grow and we cherish the continuing relationship we have with so many of you.

If you have spent any time in the YinOva waiting room recently, you will have noticed just how many very pregnant women we have been seeing. My days seem to be full with turning breech babies, addressing back pain, inducing labor and getting our pregnant patients in the best possible shape to deal with labor. Many of these same women were once our fertility patients so it is particularly thrilling to see them in their 8th month of pregnancy.

Given how many of you are due to give birth any day now I thought I’d use today’s blog article to talk about breastfeeding. A few months ago I blogged more generally about how we can help you after your baby is born so please feel free to click on that link too.

One of my new Moms recently described to me what a failure she felt when she found out that she was not able to breastfeed. She told a horrible tale of being belittled in the maternity hospital and how the lactation consultant made her feel as if she wasn’t trying hard enough. You’ll get none of that at the YinOva Center where our job is to support Moms. So l want to start by saying that whilst there are some benefits to you and your baby from breastfeeding, if you find the task impossible, for whatever reason, your baby will be fine on some of the excellent formulas that are available. As Moms we all do the best we can and we all end up compromising in some areas. It’s OK.

That being said breast milk provides your baby with perfect nutrition, boosts his or her immunity and promotes good digestive health. The hormones you release whilst breastfeeding are good for your mood, help reduce your uterus back to it’s normal size and help you regain your pre-pregnancy figure. So how’s it done? For most women it is relatively straight forward. You’ll get plenty of support and help in the hospital and here at the YinOva Center we are big fans of the La Leche League who have excellent information on their website.

Latching On

• Get yourself into a comfortable position with your back and feet supported. You can use a pillow on your lap to support the baby so your arms don’t get tired.
• Cradle your baby so she is lying on her side with her mouth and nose near your nipple.
• Squeeze the nipple to release a small amount of milk to moisten it.
• Use your free hand to compress your breast so that it conforms to the shape of your baby’s mouth
• Use the nipple to stroke the baby’s lips so that he opens his mouth wide.

For more information about positioning your baby click on this helpful link from the La Leche League.

How to prevent sore nipples

Although you can expect to be a bit tender for the first few days of breastfeeding, sore nipples are a sign that something is wrong and that corrections need to be made.

• Make sure that your baby is latching on correctly. She should have most of your areola in her mouth with your nipple near the back of her mouth so that her gums are pressing down on the milk sinuses that are about 1″ behind the nipple.
• When removing your baby from your breast, break the suction gently by pulling on baby’s chin or corner of mouth.
• Look after your nipples between feeds. We have an excellent sore nipple cream here at the YinOva Center which is non-toxic and gentle. Our new Mom’s swear by it for keeping their nipples in good shape.

What to do if you feel you don’t have enough milk

At the YinOva Center we have found that most new Moms worry about this unnecessarily. Most women really do have enough milk for their baby.

• Your breasts make milk based on how much your baby uses, so feed your baby frequently and for as long as she wants.
• Offer both breasts at each feeding but let the baby stay on the first breast for as long as he wants so that he benefits from the fat-rich “hindmilk”
• If your baby tends to fall asleep and stops sucking – try switching him between breasts to wake him up and promote active sucking.
• Drink plenty of water
• Get some rest.
• Limit your baby’s sucking on things other than the breast by stopping the use of pacifiers.
• Try herbs. To start with you can try over the counter herbal teas such as fenugreek and fennel, which some Mom’s find helpful. If that doesn’t work call us at the YinOva Center and we will have a specially tailored herbal formula made for you. Chinese herbs can really help you to produce more milk but please make sure that you use a specialist to prescribe them because many Chinese herbs are contraindicated when breast feeding.
• An acupuncture treatment in conjunction with the Chinese herbs can be helpful in increasing milk supply.

Engorgement

If your breast become hard and painful they may be becoming engorged.

• Keep feeding
• Use a breast pump to release more milk and store it for the future
• Soak your breasts with warm water just before feeding
• In between feedings apply a cold compress to your breasts to reduce pain and swelling
• Wear a loose fitting bra.
• Try not to sleep on your stomach which compresses the breasts.
• In Chinese medicine engorgement is related to qi and blood stagnation. Call us for an herbal formula that can help move the stagnation and relieve engorgement.
• Acupuncture to move qi and milk in the breast area has been used for thousands of years in China and many of new Moms find that it brings them relief.

Mastitis

If your breasts are swollen, inflamed, red and tender you may have mastitis which is an infection. Often this follows engorgement because milk that does not flow can clog up the ducts in the breast leading to an infection. Other signs of mastitis include running a fever and feeling as if you have the flu.

• Contact your doctor to see if you need antibiotics. Untreated mastitis can lead to a breast abscess so it is never sensible to wait.
• Keep breast feeding. The infection will not harm the baby and it is important to keep milk flowing.
• Breastfeed regularly (every 2 hours) to improve milk flow.
• Massage the tender area to encourage blood circulation and help clear the blocked ducts.
• In Chinese medicine we see mastitis as a combination of qi and blood stagnation with toxic heat. Acupuncture can help move the stagnation and we have anti-bacterial herbs that can help with the toxic heat (infection).
• Alternate warm and cold compresses on your breasts. The warm compresses encourage blood to flow and the cold compresses relieve inflammation.
• Drink lots of water.
• Get a much rest as you can.

Although we’ve talked about solving problems in this article, most of our YinOva Moms do not struggle with breastfeeding. They enjoy the closeness and intimacy of feeding their baby and take pride in their ability to resource their child. If you do need help please don’t hesitate to call us. We are here to support you and we love meeting your babies.

Congratulations again to Sharon and Kubi. I’ve seen pictures of baby Lila who is gorgeous and Liz who attended the birth as a doula reported back that Sharon was a rockstar!

Photographs
© Igor Stepovik | Dreamstime.com

We have a lovely job here at The YinOva Center because we help people have babies. What could be more fun? I can honestly say that all of us are so happy to play a small part in helping you to conceive and we are thrilled when you send us pictures of your new born babies. This week alone we have had six YinOva babies, all of them very longed for and some of them achieved after a long struggle.

Some people have asked me why we don’t put pictures of all of our babies on our walls like some practices do. The reason is that we feel that for patients who are having a rough month those pictures can be distressing. If you’re recovering from a miscarriage the last thing you need is to sit in the waiting room looking at photos of other people’s babies. But rest assured that we keep all the pictures you send us in a big file and we look at them often and with great pride and satisfaction. Continue reading…

I’ve been hearing from my patients about a vicious bout of viral gastroenteritis going around. Some people have thought they had food poisoning and one patient even rang to see if her herbs could be causing violent diarrhea and vomiting. I was able to assure her they weren’t.

Last week it was my turn. My husband and I were struck by the virus after catching it in a restaurant. We ate different things so it wasn’t food poisoning but evidently someone who was sick (and a poor hand-washer) touched our food. For two days we ate nothing. We just sipped water and waited for it to be over.

When I started to contemplate food again I looked around my kitchen for something that was nourishing but easy to digest. Then I had a brain wave. Rice Congee also known as Jook. My teachers at Chinese Medical School had taught me to make this for patients who were convalescing. It’s a kind of slow cooked rice porridge that is a common breakfast food in China and is also often given to old people, small children and people recovering from an illness. I made a big pot and it made me feel so much better that I thought I’d share the recipe with you here. There are many variations on congee throughout Asia so this is only one of many recipes. If you develop a congee passion you may want to buy The Book of Jook: Chinese Medicinal Porridges–A Healthy Alternative to the Typical Western Breakfast by Bob Flaws, which is full of great information.

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Susan was a long-term fertility patient who was overjoyed to find out that she was pregnant. “Should I still come and see you every week”, she asked me.

The answer is only if you want to. If you find acupuncture relaxing and useful feel free to visit us hear at the YinOva Center as much as you like. However, most pregnant women visit us only when they need us and I encourage them to use us as a resource coming in when they are uncomfortable.

Pregnancy is not an illness and most women do not need regular ongoing treatment. However acupuncture can be an excellent choice to address common pregnancy ailments in a safe, gentle, drug-free manner. The needles we use a small and hair-like, the treatment is relatively painless and there are no adverse side effects for either you or your baby.

Continue reading…