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5 Tips for Breastfeeding Success From an Expert

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Being a new mom is an experience full of beautiful emotions and a lot of love. However, there are also challenges — especially, for many, when it comes to breastfeeding.

According to Ani Cuartas, who is a lactation consultant, some of those difficulties involve pain, sleeplessness and not being able to rest, or not knowing if you are giving the baby enough milk — an experience she had herself.

“When I had my first daughter, Julia, I felt very alone in the first month and a half while breastfeeding, because I felt that I was not living my life,” Cuartas said. “When one becomes a mother for the first time, it is a change to recognize yourself as a mother, a person who must continue her life, but with a big change.”

Cuartas says she lacked support and information about breastfeeding early — and didn’t enjoy it much for the first month and a half or so “until one day she looked at me, and gave me her first smile.”

“I was missing all that, because I was not connected with her,” she acknowledged.

It was at that moment, in 2020, that Cuartas decided to become certified as a lactation consultant to get more information on breastfeeding, from practice to positive impacts. In this way, she hopes to give technical and theoretical support to mothers during the different stages of lactation and help them overcome barriers.

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Telemundo 47 spoke with Cuartas, who shared some recommendations and information for new moms.


“The most important thing in breastfeeding is to let it flow, breastfeeding is not a mathematical book. It is experience it with the correct information and accompaniment.”

— Ani Cuartas, lactation consultant


Anie Cuartas, consultora de lactancia.

5 Breastfeeding Tips for New Moms

Lactation consultant Ani Cuartas provides five valuable recommendations for new moms.

  1. Getting a good latch: Cuartas recommends the good latch of the baby to the mother’s nipple. “Let the baby open his/hers mouth wide, so that the nipple is towards the palate, the tongue down and the lips with a fish’s shape. This will be a big step for the mother and does not hurt.”
  2. Breastfeed the baby as much as necessary: Cuartas says breastfeeding the baby is what will help to produce more milk. “If the baby is anxious, breastfeed the baby, if the baby has already eaten and wants a little more, give him/her a little more. Breastfeeding occurs on demand, so the more we do it, the more milk we produce. Breast milk does not cause childhood obesity, it does not cause childhood diabetes. You can give him/her as much as he/she wants.”
  3. A good mother’s diet: For Ani Cuartas, mother’s diet affects or benefits how much milk she produces. “It is important to eat well, healthy, drink a lot of fluids. This is because the body burns an extra 500 calories when breastfeeding, so the mother needs to eat healthy and well. Otherwise, the little energy that the mother consumed will be given to herself and not to produce the milk that it needs.”
  4. Flow with the process: Cuartas considers this recommendation one of the most important. “Motherhood is not perfect. It is not a mathematical book. It is flowing, because breast milk is produced with two hormones: one is prolactin, which is the hormone that produces milk, and the second is oxytocin, which is the hormone that helps us release milk. If you are not enjoying the moment, if you are not flowing with all the changes that lactation and motherhood bring day by day, instead of releasing oxytocin we release the cortisol hormone, which is the opposite, it’s the hormone that makes us feel stressed. Oxytocin makes you feel good, the other one doesn’t. If you decrease this one, you’re not going to release milk correctly.”
  5. Find your tribe: Community support is essential to feel accompanied during the stages of breastfeeding. “You can find your tribe in the park, in the places where the mothers are, and look for those who are going through the same stages and talk with them,” Cuartas says. “With a tribe you can share experiences, feel identified. Without the support of these moms who are experiencing the same thing as you, you can feel alone.” Mothers can also help share information from lactation consultants.

Cuartas emphasizes, “Happy mom, happy baby. Calm mom, calm baby.”

In other words, do what gives you peace, but always guided by a professional. Also, never compare yourself with other moms, because each one’s lifestyle, each one’s body and her circumstances are different, Cuartas says.


“Happy mom, happy baby. Calm mom, calm baby.”

— Ani Cuartas, lactation consultant


Some will be able to breastfeed 100%, others will have to do the deferred (when the mother expresses milk and gives it to the baby in a bottle), and others will mix it (formula and breast milk). No situation should be judged.

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How can I find a lactation consultant?

Cuartas thinks that the most important thing is the relationship.

“The energy between your consultant and the mother must flow because there should be a tribe between you and your consultant, that confidence to be able to ask, talk, share the experience, and that you feel accompanied and supported,” she says.

Also, look for someone who works with the mother’s pediatrician, who has good recommendations, who adapts to the mother’s style and does not judge her.

To follow lactation consultant Ani Cuartas, go here.

Dr. Erica Wymore of Children’s Hospital Colorado authored a study that found THC, the chemical that gets cannabis users high, can linger in breast milk for 6 weeks or more after a mother stops using the drug. The impact on newborns is still hard to study.



Source: NBC New York

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