January 20, 2025

Ways to prepare for breastfeeding before your baby’s arrival

If you’re expecting a baby and planning on breastfeeding, you can get a head start on preparations.

Where to start

Getting familiar with common breastfeeding challenges and solutions can be helpful when you’re learning how to breastfeed. Breastfeeding education may start as part of your childbirth and childcare classes or with a conversation with your OB-GYN.

Breastfeeding may be one of the most natural things you can do for your baby, but that doesn’t mean it will be easy, says LaDene King, OB-GYN with Sentara Obstetrics, Gynecology & Midwifery Specialists in Harrisonburg, Va.

“Breastfeeding is a learning experience for both moms and babies. It can take time to learn what works best for you and your baby,” says King.

Talk with your OB-GYN during your pregnancy about any potential health conditions that may make breastfeeding more of a challenge. For example, having a history of diabetes or polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) increases the risk of having a low milk supply.

Research lactation support

Check with the hospital where you plan on giving birth to your baby to see if they offer lactation support. All Sentara hospital birth centers have lactation consultants available to help nurture your breastfeeding journey.

“If you are planning on breastfeeding, Sentara maternity services will support you in every way we can,” says Joy Slaven, RN and lactation consultant at the Sentara RMH Medical Center Family Birthplace. “Don’t be afraid to ask for help from your nurses and our lactation team. We also encourage our new moms to review the Guide to Successful Breastfeeding booklet they receive in their hospital room.”

If needed, Sentara lactation consultations are available after you’ve transitioned back home. Ask the lactation consultant you meet with while in the hospital how to make an appointment.

Support groups are also a good way to work through breastfeeding worries and challenges. Sentara offers several postpartum breastfeeding support groups. These groups provide encouragement, fellowship with other breastfeeding moms and expert help.

Make skin-to-skin with your baby a goal

Newborns with prolonged skin-to-skin contact with their mothers are more likely to breastfeed successfully, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) study.

Skin-to-skin contact is a nurturing practice where a baby is held directly on a parent's bare chest, usually without any clothes or blankets between them. Lactation consultants recommend skin-to-skin contact within one hour of birth. Skin-to-skin contact can occur even if you have a cesarean birth.

Skin-to-skin contact immediately after birth has many benefits for both mom and baby, including helping trigger instinctive behaviors that help with breastfeeding.

“We recommend making immediate skin-to-skin contact and an emphasis on breastfeeding after giving birth a part of your desired birth plan,” says Slaven. “Sharing this desire in your birth plan signals its importance to the care team members assisting during the birth.”

All Sentara maternity services locations encourage and support skin-to-skin contact with both parents. This includes in the operating room after cesarean deliveries.

Try hand expression

Talk to your OB-GYN to determine if you are at risk for a low milk supply. They may recommend you meet with a lactation consultant before you give birth. You may want to talk with a lactation consultant about hand expression before birth. Hand expression uses your hands to massage and gently compress the breast tissue to extract breast milk manually.

When you try it in the final few weeks of pregnancy, after 37 weeks, the goal is to produce colostrum — the fluid made at the start of milk production. This technique may improve milk supply in some cases.

Prepare to pump

Many breastfeeding moms will occasionally want to pump breast milk during their breastfeeding journey.

“Your last month or so of pregnancy is a good time to research and choose a breast pump, as well as learn how to store breastmilk,” says Slaven. “You can go ahead and order your breast pump and get familiar with how it works.”

Check with your health insurance about covering the cost of the breast pump. Insurance may require a prescription from your OB-GYN for the equipment. It may also only cover certain brands or models of breast pumps.

You may want to bring the breast pump to the hospital with you for your delivery, suggests Slaven. The hospital lactation consultant can walk you through best practices for using the breast pump even if you do not need or want to pump at that time.

What not to do

You may have heard you need to “prepare” your nipples before breastfeeding, but this is not true. There’s no reason to do anything to your nipples to prepare, and it may even make breastfeeding more complicated because this so-called preparation can cause pain.

You shouldn’t pump breast milk before giving birth. This stimulation with an electric breast pump could increase the risk of premature labor. Pumping before birth is also not associated with increased milk production. Hand expressing some breast milk may have benefits. Talk with your OB-GYN or a lactation consultant about whether it may benefit you and your baby.