27-year-old Signe almost gave up breastfeeding, but then she received help from the hospital.

Despite the common belief that breastfeeding only requires mother's milk and a hungry baby, it's not always that simple for new mothers.

That's why Slagelse Hospital has put extra focus on breastfeeding difficulties and trained eight specialist personnel as lactation consultants.

And that's why 27-year-old Signe Richter was able to breastfeed her son Alex until he was around five months old.

Originally, she was almost ready to give up breastfeeding, before she was assigned a lactation consultant from Slagelse Hospital.

- It was very confusing and hard to navigate. Everyone has their own way, but nobody has the same. And it really hurt me when we breastfed, says Signe Richter.

>

> Breastfeeding is not instinctive in humans, it is something that needs to be learned.

> Annemi Frandsen, nurse, ph.d. student, and lactation consultant at

> Slagelse Hospital.

But with help from a lactation consultant from Slagelse Hospital, she found out how to best manage breastfeeding.

As a result, she slowly found comfort in feeding her son.

- My sweet lactation consultant helped me to keep Alex getting mother's milk from me in a bottle for a period. And then she helped me to establish breastfeeding from the start, so I started with skin-to-skin contact and worked my way up to only breastfeeding at the breast, says Signe Richter.

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Breastfeeding is a collaboration

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One of the eight lactation consultants at Slagelse Hospital is nurse and ph.d. student Annemi Frandsen.

- Breastfeeding is not instinctive in humans. It is something that needs to be learned. And for some, the process goes a little harder, says Annemi Frandsen.

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Four good breastfeeding tips

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- Skin-to-skin contact, as much as possible and primarily with the mother.

- Frequent breastfeeding, when the baby wants it, and at least eight times a day.

- Positioning the baby so that mother and baby have close physical contact, such as lying down together or sitting in a comfortable position.

- Parents work together to make breastfeeding successful.

Source: Annemi Frandsen, lactation consultant, nurse, and ph.d. student at Slagelse Hospital.

The Danish Health Authority recommends exclusive breastfeeding until the baby is six months (https://www.sst.dk/da/Citizen/A-healthy-everyday-life/Diet/Breastfeeding). After that, partial breastfeeding is recommended until 12 months or longer, if mother and baby are comfortable with it.

And although Annemi Frandsen wants to help families to follow these recommendations, it's important to treat each breastfeeding experience individually.

- The individual woman's goal is what we help her to achieve. So success for me is when the woman achieves what she wants and is comfortable with it, says Annemi Frandsen.

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