Bonding
and Breast Pumping: Can It Be Done?
Bringing
your baby to breast is thought to be the only way that
you can bond with your newborn, but what about those
that do not bring baby to breast, and are breast pumping
instead, are you and your baby destined to never experience
any type of closeness?
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Unfortunately,
some of us for various reasons are unable to bring
baby to breast successfully, but we still care and
love this baby enough for breast pumping all the breast
milk we can. But, just because we breast pump does
not mean that we cannot bond. Some of us experience
a great bond while we feed this sweet baby, staring
into those brand new beautiful eyes, talking softly,
and cuddling closely to feel the warmth and smell
of that newborn baby. It just takes some creativity,
oh, and also the incredible love that you have for
this child.
Some
believe that you cannot experience the bond without
the skin to skin contact, and yet many of us have
created ways to experience this also. Bath time is
a perfect time to get the skin to skin contact with
baby. Each evening before bed, my husband would hand
the baby to me and the two of us would coo and smile
at one another in the wonderful warm water.
Advocates
of exclusive breastfeeding often forget the physical
and emotional obstacles that may be caused during
the birth of a baby. When a mom is experiencing some
of these problems, exclusive breastfeeding often poses
an additional problem to an already problematic situation.
This in turn causes a distance between mom ad baby,
as opposed to creating a bond. If mom is experiencing
problems, other feeding alternatives, especially breast
pumping, may assist in the bonding experience.
Copyright
2006, Wendy Williamson
About
the Author:
Wendy Williamson has pumped exclusively for each of
her children. Gabrielle, the last of three babies,
received breast milk exclusively pumped for more than
a year. Wendy is determined to help other mothers
realize the benefits of breast pumping for baby and
mother. She hopes to create a greater awareness of
donating breast pumps and breast milk to mothers who
want to provide their milk to their premature or ill
babies. More information on breast pumping can be
found on her website, www.gotbreastpump.com
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