As you may know, breastfeeding has many benefits for both mum and baby; from easy digestion to building immunity and improving mother-baby bonding. Along with the positives come some negatives such as pain and frustration. Signs and symptoms a mother may experience include, nipple pain, tenderness, redness, bleeding and cracking.
Some commonly attributing factors include:
- Inadequate sucking from the baby (an anterior rather than a posterior suck)
- Improper breaking of the baby’s suck after their feed
- Poorly fitting bra, and
- Poor physical health.
Mothers may feel it is the way they breastfeed and feel disempowered when it may (and most commonly is) their newborn. Most difficulties experienced with breastfeeding may be resolved through corrective advice and chiropractic techniques. The main examination that chiropractors perform is a cranial assessment of your newborn.
Birth trauma, Intrauterine pressure and delivery through the birth canal, may place stress on your baby’s cranial system and spine and may contribute to poor spinal and nervous system function. This as a result may change how your newborn sucks. Rather than drawing your nipple very far back, they suck lightly on the nipple and may end up munching down rather than sucking inwards.
