Hello,
My name is Traci Heck.  I am a nursing student at the University
of North Dakota.  When I had my son by c-section for CPD (epidural
anesthesia) in 1998, I was unable to see him, let alone breastfeed him
for 3 1/2 hours while I was being recovered.  Breastfeeding did not go
well at all.  At 5 weeks of age he was not up to his birth weight and by 3
months of age, he was on formula (to my utter dismay).  I believe
that a big part of our problem was that he was unable to breastfeed
within one hour of birth.  I have researched this topic and have found
that there are numerous advocates for initiating breastfeeding within
one hour of birth.
The WHO/UNICEF "Ten Steps to Successful Breastfeeding" (1989) states
that infants should be put to breast within 30 minutes of birth.  The
American Academy of Pediatrics (1997) and Saadeh & Akre (1996) both
encourage initiation within one hour of birth.
At my hospital, this in encouraged for NSVD's, but for C-sections it
is a different story.  The question I pose to you is has anyone run into
this problem and how is this dealt with to promote successful
breastfeeding for C-section moms?  Thank you very much, Traci Heck,
College of Nursing Student, University of North Dakota.
American Academy of Pediatrics (1997). Breastfeeding and the Use of
Human Milk. Pediatrics, 100(6). p. 1035-1039.
Saadeh, Randa, Akre, James (1996). Ten Steps to Successful
Breastfeeding: A Summary of the Rationale and Scientific Evidence. Birth,
23(3), p. 154-160.
World Health Organization (1989). Protecting, Promoting and Supporting
Breastfeeding: The Special Role of Maternity Services. A
joint WHO/UNICEF statement. Geneva.

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