Early initiation of breastfeeding (IMD): what are the benefits and how is the procedure?

Since the beginning of birth, you can start breastfeeding your baby by initiating early breastfeeding (IMD). IMD is to bring the baby closer to your body first before starting to breastfeed. In order to perform an IMD optimally, it is important to understand this procedure further.

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IMD is the first time starting breastfeeding

The procedure for early initiation of breastfeeding or IMD is actually a simple process. After the baby's body is cleaned and checked for health conditions, the doctor or medical team will immediately place the baby on your chest.

Your body and the baby are both naked so there can be a direct skin-to-skin interaction (skin to skin contact).

The IMD procedure is a long process of time, especially while waiting for the baby to move to find the mother's nipple.

During this process, it is not recommended that you help the baby or deliberately push the baby to get closer to the nipple.

Conversely, what you should do during the IMD process is to wait patiently and let an active baby move around looking for your nipples.

Let the whole process of interaction between mother and newborn during early initiation of breastfeeding take place naturally.

The IMD process is a stage that begins when the baby is placed on the mother's stomach or chest and finishes when the baby releases the suction from the mother's nipple.

In more detail, according to the Indonesian Pediatric Association (IDAI), how to initiate early breastfeeding or IMD is as follows:

The initial stages of initiating early breastfeeding after the baby is born

The stages of early initiation of breastfeeding or IMD are as follows:

1. After the baby is born and it is felt that it does not need resuscitation (breathing assistance) or other medical measures, immediately place the baby on the mother's stomach.
2. If the baby is born by caesarean section, place the baby on the mother's chest.
3. Beforehand, make sure that the baby's head, face, and other body parts, except for the hands, are dry. It is intended that the scent of amniotic fluid (amnion) on the baby's hands will help direct him to look for the mother's nipples that have a similar scent.
4. To facilitate the process, the mother's chest should not be cleaned either. Likewise with babies, you should not clean the vernix caseosa attached to the body.

Vernix caseosa is a soft layer of a white fatty substance that comes from the oil glands and skin that has peeled off.

Vernix caseosa does not need to be cleaned because it can function to retain heat in the baby's body when it is newborn.

Advanced stages of initiating early breastfeeding (IMD)

The advanced stages in initiating early breastfeeding or IMD are as follows:

1. Doctors and the medical team will cut the baby's umbilical cord first. After that, the baby will be placed on his stomach on the mother's stomach in a breastfeeding position, that is, the baby's head is facing the mother's head.
2. If the temperature in the delivery room is cold, it is okay to cover the body of the mother and baby or wear a hat on the baby's head.
3. After approximately 12-44 minutes, the baby usually starts to move by kicking, moving his legs, shoulders, and arms.
4. The movement that it does will direct its body slowly to the mother's nipple. The stimulation given by the baby can also help the mother's uterus (uterus) contract to restore its condition after giving birth.
5. The ability of a baby's vision at the beginning of birth is not perfect and is still limited. However, the baby can already see the areola of the breast which is darker than the mother's skin and then moves towards the breast.
6. The baby will also move and bang his head against the mother's chest several times. This can be stimulated as if in the form of massage on the mother's breast.

Meanwhile, for babies born prematurely, the interaction from skin to skin or skin to skin contact can begin to do when his body is strong enough.

In addition to strengthening the bond between mother and baby, the kangaroo method as a form of IMD is a process that aims to help support the development of newborn premature babies.

What happens during the early initiation of breastfeeding?

After understanding how early initiation of breastfeeding is, you may wonder how the baby feels when it is placed on the mother's stomach.

When this process takes place, actually the natural instincts of the baby's body will encourage him to look for and approach the mother's nipple.

If allowed to happen on their own, the early initiation of breastfeeding will help the baby to learn to be independent and get used to recognizing your nipples.

Indirectly, this can reduce the risk of problems for breastfeeding mothers who may need medication for nursing mothers.

The various actions and movements of the baby during the early initiation of breastfeeding or IMD are as follows:

1. First of all, the baby will make her signature cry, but it usually lasts only a moment.
2. Then enter the relaxation stage when the baby's body starts to stop crying and moves slowly.
3. Babies begin to wake up, open their eyes, and respond to hearing the mother's voice.
4. Baby movements start with small movements first, covering the arms, clothes and head.
5. The longer the baby's movement has increased. The baby will lift and move its knees, then appear to be moving toward the mother's breast.
6. When it reaches the breast area, the baby will usually stop to rest for a moment. But make no mistake, this does not indicate that the baby is not hungry or does not want to suckle.
7. After the rest is enough, the baby will begin to get used to the mother's breast. This can be seen from his behavior which began to kiss, lick, and observe the area.
8. This process will take some time so the mother still has to wait patiently until the baby can find the nipple to feed.
9. When the baby has found the nipple, he will start to suckle for the first time.

It may take a little help to change the position of the mother or baby so that the first breastfeeding process in early initiation of breastfeeding can be easier and more comfortable.

If the baby feels that he has had enough breastfeeding during the early initiation of breastfeeding he will usually stop and fall asleep on his own.

What are the benefits of early initiation of breastfeeding for mothers and babies?

IMD is a process that does more than just facilitate the initial breastfeeding period. On the other hand, there are various good benefits that you and your baby will get during early initiation of breastfeeding.

The various benefits of early initiation of breastfeeding or IMD are as follows:

1. Give the baby time to adjust

During the nine months of pregnancy, the baby is in your uterus which is closed and not exposed to the external environment directly.

On that basis, the early days after birth usually the baby will adapt first by recognizing the outside world.

Launching from UNICEF, early initiation of breastfeeding that begins with skin to skin contact previously will make it easier for the baby to get used to his new condition outside the mother's womb.

This is because of the smell and touch that the baby feels when doing skin to skin contact during the early initiation of breastfeeding makes her feel calmer and more comfortable.

2. Reducing anxiety in newborns

As previously explained, babies certainly need time to adapt from the mother's stomach to the outside world at birth.

Well, the treatment and actions given to a newborn baby can actually have a good impact on him, whether for a short or long period of time.

That is why the interaction between mother and baby's skin during IMD is an important thing that should be given to babies.

One of them is to make her feel less anxious and easier to get used to the outside world thanks to the early initiation of breastfeeding.

On the other hand, babies who are separated by the mother immediately after delivery, aka do not initiate early breastfeeding and are placed in a special baby room, usually have little difficulty adapting.

Babies may cry a lot because they feel anxious and stressed seeing changes in the environment around them suddenly because they do not undergo early initiation of breastfeeding.

3. Make mom calmer and happier

The process of giving birth is certainly not an easy thing to do. It is not impossible, the pain that arises during the process of contractions until childbirth can cause trauma for the mother in itself.

During the birth process, the mother's body will automatically produce many hormones. These hormones include endorphins and oxytocin.

This automatically makes the mother want to immediately hold and cuddle her baby. The existence of an early initiation of breastfeeding after giving birth can make contact between mother and baby happen more quickly.

Therefore, IMD is indirectly a process that can reduce the pain and possible trauma that you experience postpartum.

Thanks to the influence of the hormones endorphins and oxytocin, you will feel like immediately giving love to the baby.

4. Increase mother's motivation to breastfeed

After giving birth, breastfeeding including IMD is one of the next important phases for mother and baby.

But unfortunately, not infrequently you may feel anxious, nervous, or worried about the amount of milk production that will come out during IMD.

Take, for example, many mothers are afraid that the amount of milk that comes out is small, making it difficult for the baby to breastfeed.

As a result, this worry can cause stress for the mother which in turn will affect her milk production.

The good news, IMD and skin contact between the mother and the newborn can increase the mother's confidence to start breastfeeding.

The stimulation given by the baby during the early initiation of breastfeeding can also trigger milk production to become smoother.

Without realizing it, IMD is the process of making you feel a close and affectionate relationship with your little one.

The process of early initiation of breastfeeding or IMD is a time to provide greater opportunities for mothers and babies to be able to undergo exclusive breastfeeding for a longer period of time.

5. Improve baby's immune function

Newborn babies have a very weak immune system. This is because while in the womb the baby only receives immunity from the mother's body.

However, after birth, breast milk is a very important source of food and drink for babies. The reason is, in addition to helping meet the daily nutritional needs of babies, breast milk is also responsible for strengthening the body's immune system.

This is due to the antibody content in breast milk, especially in the first breast milk fluid or colostrum. Colostrum is a breast milk liquid rich in a number of important nutrients, one of which includes antibodies.

The good bacteria in the mother's skin also play a role in helping the baby's immune system function optimally.

Well, early initiation of breastfeeding or IMD is a process that is carried out by placing the baby's skin and mouth directly on the mother's skin so that it will make it swallow the good bacteria.

The good bacteria from the mother's skin will then form colonies in the baby's skin and intestines as self-protection.

Furthermore, the colony or collection of these good bacteria will help boost the baby's immune system.

You can continue breastfeeding exclusively until the baby is six months old. Do not forget, pay attention and understand the schedule of breastfeeding babies and how to store breast milk to optimize the delivery.

After being over six months old, breastfeeding can be replaced with formula milk if it is no longer possible.

However, it is better not to give breast milk mixed with formula milk in the same bottle. When it is time to be weaned, you can apply the right baby weaning method.

There are various myths of breastfeeding mothers and breastfeeding mothers abstinence that you may often hear. If you are not sure about the truth, you can ask your doctor, including consulting the condition if you breastfeed while pregnant.