Another Silly Question

Auzubillahi minash shaitan ir rajeem,

Bismillah ir rahman ir rahim,

christainwoman wrote: Thank you all for answering. I am nervous to breast feed because I know a few people that said it was so painful and that they would never do it again. It was more then one so it really mad me nervous to even think about it. Your points do make sense that it is better for the baby. Taryn

For the first few days most discomfort is felt in the uterus. When a mother feeds her baby, the muscles of the uterus contract, and this can be very painful for the first few days. However, the good part is that the uterus goes back to moreor less of its usual size. if it is left stretched and flabby, the second pregnancy is more painful - thus better to feed than not to. furhter more, the pain goes away in a week or at the most ten days (and btw, continue to exercise your abdominal muscles to take the uterus back in).

Feeding can be dicomfort, if the the baby is too slow, and feeds too long, or if he/she does not take enough in one sitting thus demands after short intervals, or if your milk supply is not sufficient. All these problems can be worked on, with help as suggested by others in above posts ... there are some breast massage recommended during pregnancy to ensure a good supply. Do not feed on one breast for more than ten minutes. Do not yeild to the demands everytime .... some people don't support this, but what happens is if you try and make the durations longer, the baby takes more in one sitting.

 I found the LaLeache League very supportive, alhamdulillah. It is sad that they have been reported as overdoing it in some areas, but they could be different in different areas, so there is no harm in trying.

In any case a new mother should not feel any kind of pressure or tension, or this may affect the level of lactation.

Breast feeding is a recommended practise in islam. Not to mention that in olden times in arabs the practise was also to hire a wet nurse. It is from a hadith that one may choose a lady of strong genetic background for feeding. if a husband can afford to pay, it is not an obligation for the mother to breast feed herself - guess this takes the mother off the hook, however know that there are several advantages to breast feeding. The most beneficial I find is a special bond that a mother develops with her baby right from birth, insha allah.

Hope this helps to some extent.

Maa salaama,

Nausheen