by Sara McGinnis posted in Parenting

The dream is to go into labor sometime near the 40-week mark, push out a baby, and then revel in that feeling of your newborn snuggled on your chest -- but for some moms reality brings an entirely different picture. When complications arise everything can change, including what it means to be a breastfeeding success.

Elizabeth Froh, PhD, MS, RN, and clinical supervisor of the Lactation Team at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia studied 11 mothers of infants with congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH). This anatomic malformation of the diaphragm means babies with CDH are often too fragile to be held to the breast, but their mothers are still hopeful about feeding their babies their own milk.
"We found early on that 'breastfeeding' didn't necessarily mean holding the baby to the breast," Elizabeth explained. "For the most part, mothers felt happy as long as their baby was getting their milk, whether by pumping or traditional breastfeeding."
After conducting interviews with the mothers, the researchers argue the terminology of "breastfeeding" needs to be expanded to include possibilities outside of direct feeding at the breast.
This message is important for newly postpartum mothers of NICU babies, so they realize pumping early and often can get their milk to their baby through alternative avenues (such as bottle or feeding tube). Additionally, establishing a supply creates the option for more traditional b...