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Feeding whilst in the Special Care Unit
The best thing you can offer your pre-term infant is 'mothers milk',
so if possible this should be made readily available. At this early
age, her digestive system is still very immature and she is prone to
infection. Breast milk contains special ingredients, designed to
protect against infection and allergy, and will boost her growth and
development far better than bottled milk would.
Deciding whether or not to breastfeed, may be quite a sensitive area
amongst parents of pre-term babies, especially when you are, for
whatever reason unable to breastfeed, and are pressured into
offering the best there is. For this reason, it is suggested that
you at least try and offer her expressed breast milk, even if it is
just for the first few days, before changing to formula milk. This
way at least she will have gained some of the protection.
Pre-term babies are not always able to suck, so you may have to
resort to expressing your milk, which will then be fed to your baby
via a nasogastric tube. The tube will be left in position between
feeds, and changed on a regular basis. The use of this tube enables
the baby to receive enough nourishment without using any energy,
this allows for the milk to be directed solely to her growth and
development.
In the beginning, some mother's find that apart from the
difficulties experienced when having to express milk, they do not
actually produce sufficient for their babies feeds. In this
instance, it may be suggested that a little formula milk be mixed
with it to create the desired amount. This however, should not
affect the way you feel, as it is important to remember that smaller
babies do normally require more in the way of feeding than a
full-term baby would. The main thing to remember is that, by
perseverance you are offering your baby the best start to a
wonderful life!
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