Choosing Breastfeeding Before You Conceive

Thinking about breastfeeding might seem odd to you, especially if you are struggling to conceive. Yet, breastfeeding is a practice that many women "choose" without much thought, and the result is less than satisfying. If your introduction to breastfeeding is sore nipples, restricted diets and babies that never unlatch, a little information – before you get pregnant – will go a long way.

Why Breastfeed?

It would be hard to miss the never-ending string of research, toting the many benefits of breastfeeding. Still, many women find it difficult to weed through all the scientific garble and find it hard to relate the studies to their lives.

It is true that formulas are improved over what they used to be, but unfortunately, they still have a long way to go to match the superior nutrition of breast milk. Consider these unmatchable qualities of breast milk and breastfeeding:

Your breast milk changes throughout a feeding, throughout the day and throughout the entire nursing experience. As your baby grows and develops, his nutritional needs change. While some formula companies have come out with an older baby version of their product, there is no way they can come up with the variety your milk will provide.

Your breast milk contains living cells and other disease-fighting components that are made by your breast in response to whatever you or your baby has been exposed to. Formula can't do that.

Your breast milk changes flavor and taste, depending on what you have been eating. This helps prepare your baby to eat and enjoy the variety of food you'll be introducing to him later on. Formula is always the same taste and smell – neither of which is particularly pleasant!

"There are things in breast milk that have yet to be identified, or even if they have been identified, the formula companies haven't found a way to put them in a can. Formula is an ongoing experiment, with our children as unwitting participants. Formula can provide adequate nutrition for a growing infant who cannot breastfeed, but it is, by definition, substandard. Breast milk is the gold standard of infant nutrition!"

How to Prepare?

Have you established personal beliefs in regard to childbirth? Now is the time to iron out your feelings about the process. It can affect you in more ways than one.

If you are undergoing fertility treatments or are dealing with a particularly high-risk health issue, a birth without medical intervention could be out of the question and even dangerous. Still, knowing ways to facilitate breastfeeding immediately after delivery can help ease both you and Baby into that first nursing session.

The best preparation is to spend time with other successful breastfeeding moms. If you are lucky enough to have family and/or friends who fit that bill, then you are all set.

If you don't have successful breastfeeders in your social circle, all is not lost. Meet them online.

Special Circumstances

If you are having trouble conceiving, you might be interested in adoption. With a little preparation and determination, you can breastfeed an adopted baby. Click here to read

There are benefits of breastfeeding, even if there is not enough milk to fully sustain the baby. Skin-to-skin contact helps Mom and Baby connect. And if Baby is getting any breast milk at all, he will be getting at least some of the disease-fighting components.

Why wait until you are plagued with the daily joys and worries of pregnancy to sort through the valuable information on breastfeeding? It's never too soon to start preparing for the important things in life.