Reviewed by Dr Stuart Crisp, consultant paediatrician How to get
started |Breastfeeding is a personal decision for the mother to
make.| The first step towards successful breastfeeding is to
make the decision before having your baby. It's a good idea to
talk to someone with experience, seek information, read books
and magazines or surf the Internet. Breastfeeding can begin
immediately after the baby is born. In most maternity wards
babies are put on their mother's stomach straight after birth.
This first close contact greatly promotes breastfeeding.
Immediately after birth, the baby is often awake. It eagerly
searches for the breast and wants to suckle. The baby can be
helped by carefully supporting it under the soles of its feet,
so it can crawl or push itself up from the stomach and all the
way to the breast. It will search for the breast and start
suckling as soon as it is there. It's important that the breasts
are stimulated, as soon as possible, because the quantity of
milk partly depends on how often the