Breastfeeding after an IVF delivery

By Dr. Shobha Gupta 

Breastfeeding comes to mothers naturally. However, this is not entirely true in many cases. After delivery the mother’s body undergoes a lot of changes that can make breastfeeding difficult. But this not at all means that you should give up on breastfeeding. Mothers who undergo a C-section or IVF delivery might face problems during breastfeeding. Stress, hormonal imbalances and fatigue ae very normal for such mothers that can lead interfere with breast milk production. 

Please go by the following tips that help in overcoming issues with breastfeeding: 

1. Omit stress from your life – First of all stop taking too much stress. Though it is very normal to feel stressed out after delivery especially if it’s your first baby. But stress at this time could hamper breastfeeding. Remember, a stressful mother will often find it difficult to lactate or even help the baby latch on correctly. Practice deep breathing or take bath in your tub feel the water and try to do everything that keeps you calm and relaxed.

2. Take small breaks from breastfeeding - . If your child keeps on suckling frequently, production of milk could be hampered though suckling helps to produce milk but sitting for long hours with the baby at your breast can only make it more stressful and hampers with breast milk production. So, take small breaks after feeding; let the milk production begin

Stay stress free to conceive

By Dr. Shobha Gupta 

Many researches has been done in the past which says that women with high levels of stress were 29% less likely to get pregnant each month than those women with lower levels. Stress causes infertility in women which means the inability of a woman to conceive after two years of constant efforts.  

When diagnosed with infertility, many couples feel helpless and no longer in control of their bodies or their life plan. They become stressed whereas men who work in night shifts affected more as compared to men working in morning shifts with infertility as their biological clock is very badly disturbed. They sleep during the day and to keep themselves awake, they often smoke, which damages the system further. The stress at work place and sitting for long hours at work stations is also found to reduce the sperm count. There are many factors that contribute to stress which further causes infertility like: 

• Marital disturbance 
• Job or business stress 
• Personal injury or illness 
• Death of close family member 
• Late marriages 

Women with hectic jobs are those most at risk, and are often most in denial about the stress in their lives. Stress not only causes infertility, it is one of the reasons for weight gain too. Many times stress may mess up our brain’s reward system and may cause us to crave more fat and sugar. Stress is not a good reason to treat oneself to a burger or chocolate or truck loads of ice cream. In fact, consuming high fat foods is more likely to lead to weight gain. Also, when we are stressed, we also may be more likely to drive through the fast food place, rather than taking the time and mental energy to plan and cook a meal. 

Stress is one of the major causes of obesity and even weight gain in today’s fast paced life. In fact, stress even makes it very difficult to produce optimum results if you are attempting to lose weight. Stress puts the body in ‘fight or flight’ mode from an evolutionary perspective and activates the sympathetic nervous system. This leads to the production of