Breastfeeding/Parenting Class!

Tonight was the last of our antenatal classes which started from 6:30pm-9:30pm.

The topic for tonight's class was all about 'Breastfeeding techniques' & 'how to care for your newborn'. Our new midwife by the name of Elizabeth also gave us a summary of what happens to the mother & baby during their 5 days 4 nights stay in hospital.

Once again there was much to be learned. I never realised there's a whole technique to breastfeeding & how bad your breasts/nipples can get if you don't get it right the first time.
Elizabeth showed us a chart on how each of the veins/milk ducts/hormones get produced to trigger milk production as soon as the infant sucks on the nipple. We were all in awe of how the human body works but more so at the hand of God - that He would know how to form the human body in such fine detail. Wow..

We also watched a video about the different ways of communicating with the baby as soon as they're born up until they are one year's old (Eg. through gazes, smiles, touch, massages, games etc). Once again we were blown away to see how smart & aware the baby is even at such a young age. Babies can already smell the mother & know who the father is since they've heard their voices speaking to them way before they were born. Amazing!

The midwife also showed us how to swaddle and bathe a baby. I was surprised to see how many cotton balls were used just to clean the baby's face! I was also surprised to see that ínfants only need to be bathed in plain water & not use any shampoo/bath gel etc. She also showed us how to look after the baby's clamped umbilical cord. Basically you should not clean it but rather just dry it and ensure no water gets on it as the more you clean it, the longer the umbilical cord stays on the baby which is not the ideal!

Finally the midwife also told us the surprising hospital policy of Knox Private Hospital. Basically as soon as each baby is born in the ward, they are tagged on each of their legs. We as parents need to ensure these tags do not fall off during the hospital stay because if both name tags fall off, then every baby in the nursery must undergo a DNA test. We couldn't believe it!

It was good to also see that the women in the classes were as frustrated as me for the arrival of their bubs.. most of them also around the 37th/38th week mark. Despite how scary child birth can be, I think all of us are feeling the same way and that is we can't wait to meet our baby & of course to have our normal body back again!