There are many options for how a night will look if mom is exclusively breastfeeding baby. Once baby wakes, the Newborn Care Specialist will bring baby to mom to eat. Before taking baby to eat it may be a good idea to change baby. This allows mom to stay in bed or in her room so she doesn’t have to get up to come feed baby. Once the feed is finished mom will text or call the NCS to come get baby. This way mom can go right back to sleep and the NCS will burp, swaddle and get baby back to sleep soundly. This will repeat throughout the night. Sometimes mothers prefer to come to the nursery or wherever baby is to feed.
If mom is pumping, the NCS can make sure she has clean pump parts ready for her to use. Once she is done pumping you can have her text or call you to get the milk and dirty pump parts. The NCS should then store the milk and clean the dirty pump parts. Sometimes mom may want the NCS to feed baby with the milk she just pumped. Communicate about this before your shift if mom is pumping. It is also important for an NCS to know how to properly store and handle breastmilk. Having a client who is pumping you will be handling breastmilk often..
Sometimes moms will choose to do a combination of breastfeeding and pumping. Mom may nurse at one feed and pump at the next. Often times mom will breastfeed before she goes to bed and then pump at the second feeding of the night. Make sure this is communicated before your shift so their is no confusion. If you are feeding baby your job as an NCS is to change baby’s diaper, feed, burp, swaddle and get baby back to sleep.
For more information on your role as an NCS when working with a breastfeeding mother visit www.ncta.online. The online self-paced courses Newborn Care Specialist Workshop and Breastmilk Storage and Handling will provide you with more information.
Recent Comments