Infant feeding

Who are we?

We are a small team who are managed within the Public Health Directorate.

Infant Feeding Lead

Whole NHS Highland remit.

Karen Mackay
email karen.mackay3@nhs.scot

Other staff

• Breastfeeding coordinator - supports training and manages volunteer peer supporters.
• 2 breastfeeding coordinators within Raigmore Hospital
• Infant feeding support workers for Easter Ross, Mid Ross, Inverness, Raigmore Maternity unit and Lochaber
• Infant feeding support workers in Oban; Dunoon and Cowal; Mid Argyll, Kintyre and the Isles; Helensburgh
• Volunteer breastfeeding supporters

Read more about support for breastfeeding.

Learn about feeding

During your pregnancy you should have had the opportunity to discuss your thoughts and feelings about feeding with your midwife. You should also have received an Off to a Good Start booklet.

To help with your choices, visit the Parent Club website.

A newborn baby’s tummy is tiny and therefore cannot take large volumes of milk. This means that often, in the beginning, babies will feed frequently e.g. 8-12 times in a 24 hour period. We recommend that babies are fed responsively. This means feeding baby when they show feeding cues rather than trying to establish a feeding routine. If breastfeeding, this also means offering the breast to comfort baby or for your own comfort too.

Skin to skin contact

We encourage you to cuddle your baby immediately after delivery or as soon as possible thereafter. Skin to skin contact helps both you and your baby and has many benefits associated with it.

If your baby is needing to go to the neonatal unit, skin to skin contact there is referred to as kangaroo care. If you are not available for skin to skin contact or kangaroo care, this is something that can be offered to your partner.

Benefits to you include

• increase in the hormone oxytocin which helps calm and relax you
• enhances your mothering instinctive behaviours and reduces the stress hormone cortisol
• can help with the establishment of your milk supply

Benefits to baby include

- helps regulate heart rate, breathing and temperature
- helps stabilise baby’s blood sugar
- helps develop baby’s immune system
- Increases oxytocin levels and reduces cortisol levels. This helps with bonding, enhances baby’s instinctive feeding behaviours and can help with brain development.

Carrying out skin to skin after delivery and throughout the postnatal period can help relax you, keep baby calm and help establish feeding. Baby being cuddled skin to skin with both parents and even siblings (supervised) can have health benefits for all.

Babies need to feel loved

They cannot be spoilt by over cuddling. Take time out and enjoy this one-to-one time together.

Skin to skin contact is not just for the immediate postnatal period, it is something that can be enjoyed at any point throughout your feeding journey, however you chose to feed.

Useful links

• Parent Club - Meeting your baby for the first time
• Building a happy baby - a guide for parents (pdf) - from UNICEF Baby Friendly Initiative

Healthy Start vitamins

Within NHS Highland you will be given Healthy Start vitamins free during your pregnancy. We would encourage you to take these, as they contain all the supplements that you and your growing baby require in addition to a healthy diet. You will get 2 free bottles at booking with your midwife and another 2 bottles between 16 and 22 weeks. Please ask your midwife if you haven’t received these.