Pains and joys of breastfeeding

Breastfeeding is not only beneficial for babies but also blissful experience for mothers. / Korea Times file

By Yoon Ja-young

Ji-ho’s mother thought the hardest part was over when she gave birth to her son after five hours of labor last autumn. Looking back, she says the delivery was easy when compared with breastfeeding.

“I had no concrete idea on how to breastfeed my baby. I simply thought that the baby would suck when I hugged him, but it wasn’t the case. It was like taking a breastfeeding 101 class,” she said, recalling how she learned about the different postures for feeding, such as the cradle, football, and cross-over holds, from nurses at the postpartum care center, where Korean moms usually stay for two weeks after delivery.

To breastfeed the newborn, mothers have to be awake every two or three hours, while those feeding their babies on powdered formula can sleep a little longer thanks to the babies being full. Most would be willing to sacrifice their sleep to feed their babies, but sometimes it is the babies who refuse the breastfeeding. Not all babies suck their mom’s nipples happily. Sometimes the mom has nipples too short for the baby to suck. Sometimes too much milk will pour into their mouth when they suck while other babies will get only a little amount no matter how hard they suck. Babies get angry, cry or turn their head away from their mother’s breast, while they seem to be content when sucking a bottle that supplies them just the right amount, without an energy consuming struggle. Mothers could feel devastated by this.

Ji-ho’s mother suffered from mastitis at first as she produced more milk than the baby needed. The excess milk in her breast hardened like stones, and she compared the pain to that of delivery. She got several breast massages to resolve it, which cost 70,000 won each time.

Despite all those obstacles, many mothers make it through. In Korea, 36 percent of mothers feed their babies with only breast milk until they are six months old. The ratio has more than doubled from the 1990s, and is also higher than the OECD average of 23 percent.

The rise is thanks to a nationwide promotion on the benefits of breastfeeding. It is now widely known that breast milk, abundant in protein and minerals, is the best gift for babies as it enhances their level of immunity. It is blissful experience for mothers as well, not to mention the health benefits such as helping weight loss or decreasing the risks of osteoporosis, and breast or ovarian cancer, and the convenience of not having to wash and boil bottles. Babies and their mothers’ breasts usually get accustomed to each other after a few months. By then, the babies come to learn how to suck the breasts effectively regardless of the shape, and mothers produce an adequate amount for their babies — neither too much to cause mastitis nor too little to make the baby hungry.