Delta County Breastfeeding Coalition

11/04/2025

11/04/2025

Is your baby not gaining enough weight?
Have you been advised to supplement with formula to help?

Some babies will need supplementing with formula for a short while, but formula should not be the first option. There are several other things you can try first:

*Access some good quality breastfeeding support to check baby is latching well and feeding efficiently. Try to see if you can find local breastfeeding support, a breastfeeding counsellor or IBCLC. If you can't find face to face support then video support can be quite effective

*Breast compressions - basically, hand expressing and massaging whilst baby is latched on. Thie increases the flow of milk, can increase the fat content and also keeps a sleepy baby more interested in feeding. Doing breast compressions often helps babies take more milk during each feed. See my reels or youtube for a tutorial

*Add an extra feed or two in each 24 hours. Make sure you are watching for the earliest feeding cues, waking, fidgeting, licking lips, sucking fingers, and latch baby on as soon as possible. Or if baby is a bit sleepy, maybe wake them every 2.5 hours instead of every 3 hours. And always try to encourage baby to take the second breast. A quick nappy change can wake them up enough to get them to feed again. Twins can go back on the same breast, they will get another let-down

*Express some top ups. This can be given by syringe, teaspoon or cup in the early days for small volumes. Later on you may want to try a tube at the breast (SNS). Or use paced bottle feeding technique if you prefer a bottle

Donor milk can also be an option

And if you do need to use some formula, it often doesn't have to be too much and doesn't have to be for too long. It's usually just until the baby is feeding more effectively and milk supply can catch up. Then, you can work on dropping the supplements

There are some situations when formula needs to be a long-term addition to breastfeeding. Try to focus on maximising your own milk making potential and truly value the attachment, bonding and immunological aspects of breastfeeding. Remember that every drop of human milk you can give your baby is worth it. Even a small volume is worth it

10/21/2025

10/09/2025

Don’t change a thing ♥️

Sometimes breastfeeding is really hard. We think about breastfeeding being natural - but that doesn’t mean it comes easy to everyone. Breastfeeding is a learned skill; the more you practice, the better you get. Just because the latch wasn’t perfect for the first few days or weeks doesn’t mean you have failed. It just means that you and your baby are still learning. Please reach out for help if you are struggling! You don’t have to do this alone.

10/09/2025

You are incredible. Just remember that. Those moments mean everything to your little one!

09/22/2025

💫 Weird but True: Breastmilk Edition 💫

Breastfeeding isn’t just food it’s science straight out of a superhero comic. 🦸‍♀️

👉 Your breastmilk actually contains living stem cells that can become ANY type of cell in the human body. Heart, brain, skin 😊you name it. Mind. Blown. 🤯

👉 And that’s not all… every drop is like liquid medicine 💊 custom made by your body for YOUR baby, changing from feed to feed to meet their needs.

So the next time someone says, “It’s just milk,” remind them: nope, it’s pure magic. ✨

09/18/2025

scientists have confirmed breastmilk is more than food. it’s alive.

your body makes medicine.
real time protection.
immune cells. stem cells. healing messengers.

when your baby is sick, your milk changes.
when they grow, it evolves.

no lab can match that.
no formula can copy it.

this isn’t just breastfeeding
it’s your body doing something extraordinary.

you’re not *just* feeding.
you’re protecting. healing. building.

be proud of that 🥹
because your body is doing more than you know

The Breastmilk Queen - Amy McGlade

09/15/2025

Breastfeeding is predominantly a right-brained activity.

The right side of the brain is associated with creativity, instinct, visual imagery, intuition, spatial abilities, non-literal thinking, face recognition and imagination. The left side of the brain in contrast is concerned with written and spoken language, logical decision making, mathematical calculations and numbers, reasoning, analysis, order and sense of time.

Day-to-day life for most of us requires us to employ our left-brains - numbers, data, schedules, times, organising, planning. But learning to breastfeed requires a different set of skills, most of which fall into the realm of the right brain. It can take time to adjust to this new way of being, learning, feeling and intuiting. Be patient with yourself. Be curious about what it is to be postpartum, and the challenges that breastfeeding presents for you. It's not easy (easier for some people than for others) and can take time to adapt to. That's ok. And normal.



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09/12/2025

Providing pumped breastmilk is breastfeeding! There are a few differences between direct breastfeeding and providing pumped breastmilk, but your milk contains all the nutrients regardless of the "container" it comes from. I wish the US prioritized maternity leave, I wish those who struggled to get a good latch got help, I wish direct breastfeeding wasn't traumatic for some, I wish for whatever reasons moms decide to pump they find support. It isn't easy. Keep on pumpin'