BREASTFEEDING AND PARENTING ADVICE FOR MOMS AND DADS

BREASTFEEDING YOUR NEWBORN

Doctors and medical professionals all agree that breastfeeding your newborn child is much healthier than using a bottle.
It provides important vitamins and nutrients that baby formula lacks. There are certain instances, however, where a bottle may be necessary.

Some new mothers have a difficult time producing a sufficient amount of milk for their child. The newborn will breastfeed for many hours a day because it’s not getting the proper nutrient it needs. A child can quickly dehydrate, which could lead to death. In these cases, a bottle is critical.

Jillian Johnson learned a heartbreaking lesson about the importance of bottle-feeding in the rare case that the mother doesn’t produce enough milk. Her son, Landon, was just 15 days old when doctors gave his mother and father news about their him that no parent ever wants to hear.

Jillian Johnson was the mother to a beautiful newborn baby boy named Landon. She did her research and knew she was going to breastfeed him during the early stages of his life.

Jillian noticed that Landon breastfed for unusually extended amounts of time and would cry whenever he was not feeding. Doctors, lactation consultants and medical staff failed to realize that Jillian wasn’t producing enough milk to properly nourish Landon.

With no knowledge of Landon’s undernourishment, Jillian and her husband brought him home from the hospital, even though he was still crying whenever he wasn’t feeding. Jillian and her husband weren’t prepared for the heartbreak they were about to endure…

Just 12 hours after Landon left the hospital, he fell into a coma. He was put on life support for the next 15 hopeful days, but tragically passed away from cardiac arrest caused by dehydration. Jillian was completely distraught. How could this have happened?

While Landon was on life support, one of the doctors told her that, though breastfeeding is always preferred, if your child cries a lot, follow up with a bottle to make sure they’ve received enough food. Dr. Christie del Castillo-Hegyi of Brown University explained how Landon died as result from his undernourishment:

Constant, unsatisfied nursing and inconsolable crying are two of the signs of newborn starvation that lead to brain-threatening complications. If a child is receiving a fraction of their caloric requirement through early exclusive breastfeeding, they can experience severe hunger and thirst, which is why they will cry inconsolably and breastfeed continuously when it is the only source of calories and fluid they are offered. If a mother’s colostrum does not meet the child’s caloric requirement, they will breastfeed for hours a day in an attempt to relieve their hunger.  A child who is “cluster-feeding” may actually burn more calories breastfeeding than they receive in return, which can result in fasting conditions and accelerated weight loss.

This was something that no one had told Jillian or her husband before that moment. Now, she is speaking out to other families so that they’re aware of the potential life-threatening risk that lack of milk production can have on a newborn.

No parent should ever have to endure such a traumatic loss. Jillian is showing incredible strength by speaking out to other mothers and fathers about her story.

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