Tips for a smooth start to breast feeding

Many different sources were used while writing this article; I hope you find it informative and helpful.

There are many ways to plan to be a mother and to breast feed for the first time.

First find out as much as you can, this can involve reading about breastfeeding during your pregnancy, check out our web site there is a mass of information on it, so you will know what to do once your baby is in your arms, attending antenatal lessons and learning `about breast feeding there, or you can even join a support group and enjoy mingling with other mothers who can give you lots of tips and guidance.

During pregnancy, it is very important you take good care of yourself. This ensures when it comes to the time to have your baby, it is as stress free and healthy a birth as it can possibly be.

There are plenty of things you can do to prepare yourself for feeding your baby whilst you are still pregnant; these include ensuring your breasts are prepared for the feeding experience. It's always a good idea to tell your midwife or obstetrician of any breast surgery you may have had as this might influence your abilities to feed your baby. Also check your nipples to see if they have become inverted, this can present difficulties when the time comes for the baby to latch on,

Speak to your friends and family about their breastfeeding experiences, or go to a breastfeeding support group so you can meet and chat to other breastfeeding mothers.

Once your baby has been born, its important that the baby is put to the breast immediately. This is because the suckling instinct in a baby is very strong when they are first born. If you can get your baby to latch on inside those first few minutes of life, it is imprinted on them and subsequent breast-feeding experiences should become a lot easier.

Most maternity hospitals give you the opportunity to let your baby stay in the same room as you overnight. This is a good idea, so make certain you take advantage of it. It will give you that added time to both get to know one another and create the mother and baby bond that is so important.

If your baby does sleep in the nursery it's important that the nursery staff don't feed your baby formula whilst you are sleeping. Insist that when he awakens he is brought to you for feeding from your breast even if it is the middle of the night.

Don't be concerned that you are not producing much milk to start off with, this is normal. The thin liquid that is created just after your baby is born is rich in nutrients and antibodies. It is enough to keep your baby happy until your milk "comes in" a few of days after your baby is born.

I hope you found the above helpful and you have a good experience breastfeeding your baby.

Roger Overanout

Conjoined twins

Twins are a kind of multiple births, i. e., when a woman gives birth to more than one baby at the same time. Twins occur when more than one egg is fertilized or when the same egg is fertilized more than once by one or two sperm, leading to formation of more than one fetus.

Conjoined twins are identical twins who are joined together somewhere in the body. Conjoined twins are monozygotic twins, in the sense that they share the same zygote. Sometimes, they also share some vital internal organs. Formation of conjoined twins is believed to be the result of late twinning. When the twinning occurs more than twelve days after fertilization of the egg, it may lead to formation of conjoined twins because the embryo may not split completely. This may be due to genetic or environmental factors.

Conjoined twins are also known as Siamese twins, named after the famous conjoined twins, Eng and Chang Bunker from Siam. Conjoined twin births are very rare, amounting to around one birth in every 1,00,000 births. Mary and Eliza Chulkhurst, famously referred to as the biddenden maids, are one of the earliest known set of conjoined twins. The ratio of male and female sets of conjoined twins was found to be three to one, and they are found more in certain countries like India or Africa.

Conjoined twins rarely survive because of the complexity of the bodies. Most of them are stillborn or die within twenty-four hours after birth. Conjoined twins can be separated surgically if none of the vital organs are involved. There are different kinds of conjoined twins, depending on the part of the body where they are joined. These are cephalopagus, craniopagus, craniothoracopagus, dicephalus, iscopagus, omphalopagus, parapagus, pygopagus and thoracopagus. There are also some rare kinds of conjoined twins, such as parasitic twins (where one twin is not completely formed and depends on the other twin to sustain life), and fetus in fetu (where one twin’s fetus is present inside the body of the other twin).

Some people consider separation of conjoined twins as unethical if it involves death or disability of one of the twins. Conjoined twins, if they survive, can lead healthy lives. There are instances where conjoined twins have even married and become parents. The famous Siamese twins, Chang and Eng Bunker, fathered twenty-one children in thirty-one years.