Learning to breastfeed

Breastfeeding is normal, yet it is a learned skill. During pregnancy it is helpful to learn about what to expect with feeding your baby. When baby arrives, it may take time, practice, and support to get the hang of things. Take it one step at a time - every feed counts.

Learning about breastfeeding shouldn't wait until your baby arrives. To get breastfeeding off to a good start, explore the resources and supports below and the different sections of this webpage.

Access to breastfeeding information online

• Breastfeeding/chestfeeding online modules (self-paced) - Fraser Health
• Help with breastfeeding - Northern Health
• Planning to breastfeed? Tips from lactation consultant Brittney McCullough - Northern Health
• Prenatal classes and education - Northern Health
• Preparing to breastfeed (video) - Breastfeeding information for parents

Attend a prenatal breastfeeding class or breastfeeding support group meeting

• La Leche League Canada (LLLC)
  • Check the calendar of activities. To filter, select from drop-down list under "prenatal class"
• The Pregnancy HUB (BC Association of Pregnancy Outreach programs)
  • Check availability on the HUB program schedule including:
    • Human milk feeding 101
    • Virtual Lactation Café

Consider hand expressing your milk in the last few weeks of your pregnancy

• "More Milk Sooner": Dr. Brenckmann promotes hand expression of milk in low-risk pregnancies - Northern Health
• Prenatal colostrum expression (PDF) - La Leche League Canada

In the first few days and weeks after birth, skin-to-skin contact between you and your baby is important. Right after baby is born, uninterrupted skin-to-skin contact helps to stabilize baby’s temperature and blood sugar, enhances bonding between baby and their parent(s), and improves overall breastfeeding success. Skin-to-skin is important for all babies, whether born vaginally and by caesarean section (c-section).

These resources show how to do skin-to-skin safely:

• Breastfeeding and skin-to-skin contact (video) - HealthLink BC
• Importance of skin-to-skin contact - HealthLink BC
• Doing skin-to-skin safely - BC Women’s Hospital and Health Centre

Remember: Hold baby skin-to-skin when you are wide awake and follow safer sleep practices for infants.

It may take time to find a comfortable, relaxed position for you and your baby. Try different positions. A good position supports an effective latch (also known as deep attachment). An incorrect position and a shallow latch may cause sore, cracked nipples. Breast compressions can be useful if your baby is latched well but is sleepy or taking a long time to feed. You can use your hands to help your baby get more milk.

If you need assistance to deeply attach your baby to the breast, help for breastfeeding is available.

Breastfeeding positions

• Breastfeeding positions (resource with video) - HealthLink BC
• Positions for breastfeeding (video) - Breastfeeding Series, Global Health Media Project

Latching baby

• Attaching your baby at the breast (video) - Breastfeeding Series, Global Health Media Project
• Breastfeeding your baby (PDF) - Baby's Best Chance, Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA)
• Learning to latch (resource with video) - HealthLink BC
• What to do about nipple pain (video) - Breastfeeding Series, Global Health Media Project

Latching when breasts are engorged

• Breast engorgement - La Leche League Canada (LLLC)
• Reverse pressure softening (PDF) - Northern Health

Breast compressions to move more milk

• Increasing your milk supply (video, 2:05 to 3:07 minutes) - Breastfeeding Series, Global Health Media

It’s important for parents to learn to recognize and respond to their babies’ hunger and fullness cues. This helps to meet baby’s needs, helps to establish your milk supply, and can help to prevent breast engorgement. While you can’t see how much your baby is drinking while they are at the breast, signs that they are drinking well include: their chin dropping when milk is flowing; soft “kah” sounds when they swallow; lots of wet and dirty diapers; and good weight gain.

Responsive, cue-based feeding

• Baby feeding cues and behaviours (video) - HealthLink BC
• Breastfeeding in the first three weeks (PDF) - Vancouver Coastal Health
• How often and how long to feed - HealthLink BC

Milk supply

• Increasing your milk supply (video) - Breastfeeding Series, Global Health Media Project
• Is your baby getting enough milk (video) - Breastfeeding Series, Global Health Media Project
• Your milk supply - HealthLink BC

Parents may need to express milk for a variety of reasons. A common reason is trying to increase or keep up milk supply. Expressing milk is also important if:

• Baby is unable to feed due to medical reasons
• There is temporary separation of parent from baby
• Mother/parent is experiencing breast fullness or tenderness (known as engorgement)
• Feeding directly at the breast is not feasible; other feeding methods are needed

Human milk can be expressed by hand, manual pump, and/or electric breast pump. Learn more about expressing your milk (PDF) – Baby's Best Chance, Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA). If you need to express milk in order to manage a feeding challenge, it may be helpful to reach out for help with breastfeeding.

Hand expression

• Get started on expressing breast milk - HealthLink BC
• Hand expressing breastmilk (video) - HealthLink BC
• How to express your milk by hand (PDF) - Northern Health

Using a pump

• Maximizing milk production with hands-on pumping - Stanford Medicine
• Pumping breast milk - HealthLink BC

Handling and storing milk

• Guidelines for breast milk storage (PDF) - Northern Health
• Storing breast milk - HealthLink BC