Late Preterm Feeding Choices and Donor Milk

I am sure you have heard about preparing a Birth Plan for your delivery…but have you heard about a Feeding Plan? If you are going to have a Late Preterm baby, then you need to learn all about a feeding plan for the first few days at the hospital with your newborn!

First, let me define what a Late Preterm baby really is. It means your baby is 34 to 36.6 completed gestational weeks when delivered. Those babies typically nurse so well the first time.. and everyone says how perfect your baby is.. and then...at the 2nd and 3rd feeding, they are not effective at all. The baby in this category just runs out of energy and typically sleeps through the next feedings. Then we have two problems:  1. Mom not nursing frequently and effective enough which lessens her supply and 2. Baby is not hydrated enough. So we have mom pump, which is the second best option, behind nursing. After pumping, we then go to donor milk. The Milk Bank for donor milk has been an amazing resource in our area for 20 years. The pooled and pasteurized milk is ordered by each hospital and then given to babies until their own mother's milk comes in. If your goal is to exclusively breastfeed your baby, then this can be a helpful bridge until your own breast milk comes in. The policies and best practices at all hospitals include mom's own breast milk and then donor milk.

Learn more about The Milk Bank here.