Breastfeeding story with SNS (Supplemental Nutrition System)

After two caesarean births and two boys, who were breastfed exclusively, after the first month of their life I had to feed them with powdered milk, I can say with all my heart that who invented this SNS or Supplemental Nutrition System (Supplemental Nursing System), has done a lot of good for moms and babies around the world.

I first learned about the existence of this SNS and how to use it in 2017 from a breastfeeding consultant.

Why breastfeeding was difficult and the NHS was the savior

At the first birth, I think it was an amalgam of factors that disrupted my lactation: the cesarean birth, the lactation that came hard, the blood that burst from my breasts at the first breastfeeding, the breast shields I had to put on. Now, looking back, I understand that another cause was the fact that the baby was born small, unmature, only 2.3 kilograms, although full term, and not having much strength to suck... I left the private maternity with the formula in my arms and clear instructions from the neonatologist that it was imperative that he should gain at least 750 grams-1 kilogram after the first month and be fed at intervals of 3, 4 hours maximum.

In the first month and a half, my husband and I were real soldiers: every 3 or 4 hours of the day and night, my husband was bottle-feeding the little one (first with breast milk, then with formula), washing and sterilizing the bottles and nipples, breast pump, and I was taking care to put the baby to breastfeed as much as possible, so as not to lose lactation and while the baby was getting his bottle, I was using the breast pump.

After a month and a half, the baby had gained more weight than expected, but my depression was deepening, due to fatigue, lack of breast milk (my breast pump could not pump more than 60 ml at a time), although I was drinking liters of lactation tea and taking strong Galafor, and the baby's increasing demand for formula...

That's when, "googling", I found out that there were breastfeeding consultants and called to schedule a consultation for at home at ProMAMA.

At the second birth, I knew what I had to do about breastfeeding, but the baby was born with reflux and a diagnosis of ankyloglossia, I left the same private maternity hospital again with Nexium and anti-reflux formula in my arms, and with little hope of ever breastfeeding exclusively, because it was explained to me that the formula of thickened formula will help the baby to keep the milk in his stomach..

And again the moment came when I "googled" and discovered Mrs. Doctor Cristina Vancsa, lactation consultant, ultra-specialized in the treatment of ankyloglossia.

What an SNS is and what it does

A Supplemental Feeding System - SNS, is an alternative way of feeding your baby when breastfeeding is poor and you need to supplement with formula or even breast milk without actually putting a bottle in your baby's mouth.

To make an SNS, you only need:

• a bottle
• a nipple with a tiny hole in the middle through which the
• a gavaj probe of size FR 5

The bottle will be filled with powdered milk or breast milk to supplement the baby's feeding, using the end of the feeding tube, after the normal breastfeeding session. The end of the feeding tube will be inserted into the baby's mouth with the breast and the baby will receive the supplement while suckling.

Thus, with this way of feeding, with SNS instead of the classic bottle, there are several advantages:

• your baby will not come to prefer bottle feeding, which is much easier for him versus breastfeeding;
• as the baby's food is supplemented through the SNS, the mother's breast is also stimulated; the mother's breast will produce milk if there is demand, if stimulated by the baby;
• Over time, the amount of breastmilk increases as the amount of milk supplementation through the SNS decreases;
• a mixed type of breastfeeding (breast milk and powdered milk) becomes exclusive after a while;
• after breastfeeding will become exclusive, the mother will have more time for her baby because she will get rid of the worry and time allocated to cleaning and sterilizing bottles, preparing formula, etc.

How to use SNS to move from mixed to exclusive breastfeeding

• start using a home-made SNS and avoid as much as possible the use of the bottle again
• take lactation supplements (teas, capsules). The product that provided the best results for me, after using several supplements on the market, was the one recommended by a pediatrician, namely More Milk Plus.
• for a few days, the amount of formula or breast milk collected by breast pump, administered through the SNS, is monitored to find out how much more your baby needs than what he or she is breastfeeding.
• after the baby has become accustomed to SNS feeding, gradually reduce the amount of formula or breast milk pumped with the breast pump by 10 milliliters daily
• During all this time, you will watch that the baby swallows when breastfeeding. As long as she swallows, she is eating.
• Breast compressions will always be made and when the baby stops sucking nutritionally, no longer swallows, the baby is moved from one breast to another.
• the baby is expected to have 6 wet diapers a day and is weighed once a week.

A beautiful and clearly written piece, which reminded my second child how to use SNS, you will find here: https://alapteaza.wordpress.com/2015/03/30/ce-este-si-cum-se-foloseste-un-sns/

The transition from mixed to exclusive breastfeeding is a difficult process for the mother, and the support of those around her is welcome (sterilization, formula preparation while the mother is breastfeeding, etc.).

The time in which I actually managed to reduce the total milk powder was about a month and a half, and breastfeeding became exclusive around the age of three months for the first boy and three and a half months for the second.

And, yes, EXCLUSIVE BREASTFEEDING IS POSSIBLE EVEN AFTER BREAST BREAST BREAST FEEDING. You just need confidence in your own strengths and a lot of support and support from those around you.