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maternity department
Breastfeeding
During your stay at the Postpartum Clinic, you will receive special support from an obstetrician dedicated to breastfeeding. The obstetrician will be available to assist you in your first attempts to breastfeed your baby and will provide valuable recommendations for successful breastfeeding also after discharge.
We have provided for you the indispensable support in the breastfeeding process in the first days after giving birth
During your stay at the Postnatal Clinic, the obstetrician Tatyana Kirova will help you in your first attempts to breastfeed your baby, find the comfortable position for you to place your newborn on the breast, monitor whether he/she is suckling properly, etc.
If you wish to breastfeed, but your baby’s condition does not allow it in the first days after birth, obstetrician Tatyana Kirova will be of use, stimulating and maintaining lactation, so that the very first moment when the baby can already suckle, breastfeeding can take place smoothly. She will monitor, guide and advise you.
The obstetrician Tatyana Kirova is available at the Postnatal Clinic from Monday to Friday from 9:00 to 17:00. She makes three visits during the day to each room in the clinic with the option of additional visits, should you approach her with a question or a desire for assistance and support.
About breastfeeding
The best food for the newborn is breast milk. It contains all the necessary nutrients and bio-active substances for the proper development of the child. Breast milk also contains a high percentage of water, so it is not necessary to give the infant any extra water.
It is recommended that the newborn is exclusively breastfed until the age of 6 months, but sometimes for a number of reasons this is not possible.
When it is not possible for the child to receive the amount of breast milk needed for his/her age, it is either supplemented or switched entirely to formula feeding – food formulas designed to resemble breast milk. It is not recommended to give non-adapted milk to children under 1 year of age because of the risk of allergy.
Irrespective of whether your baby will be receiving breastmilk or formula milk, use feeding times to bond with the baby
If necessary – following your wish or a physician’s recommendation – the baby may be fed with adapted milk prepared in the milk kitchen of the Neonatology Department.
If you do not wish your child to receive adapted milk, you may state your wishes and if your child’s health permits – they will be respected.
There are 20 mechanical breast pumps available for your use at the Postnatal Clinic, which are sterilized in the hospital Sterilization Room at 121 degrees.
You may also use a personal pump, if you bring one, and have it sterilized in the sterilizer available in the Postnatal Clinic canteen.
Home sterilization equipment does not meet modern medical requirements for sterility. It is therefore inadvisable to use other people’s appliances/pumps/tips if they have not been sterilized in the hospital sterilization room.
It is advisable to carry with you and use as necessary:
- disposable absorbent pads in case of spontaneous breast milk leakage;
- nipple cream (to contain pure medical grade lanolin and NOT to require washing off before breastfeeding).
See also
Normal birth
Caesarian section
Neonatology
Admission checklist
