The best time to start breastfeeding is right after delivery when the baby is awake and rooting (opening his/her mouth and turning head) or sucking on hands. Get some help to hold the baby properly and tickle the baby's lips with your nipple. This should cause the baby to open his mouth-- then quickly pull the baby onto your nipple, trying to get the nipple as far back in the baby's mouth as possible. A deep latch is important to prevent sore nipples and to ensure that the baby gets milk. If the baby's sucking is painful, or feels like pinching, or biting, break the suction and start again. A baby's suck will be surprisingly strong, but not painful, if properly latched on.
It is a good idea to take a breastfeeding class while you are pregnant. Most women take a class on childbirth, but if you think about it, you will be breastfeeding a lot longer than you will be in labor. Another way to get good information is to talk to other mothers who have been successfully breastfeeding their babies. Watch them nurse, if possible. You could do this at a Le Leche League meeting, or a breastfeeding support group. In the days before bottle feeding became the norm, girls grew up watching women breastfeed babies. Holding your baby will be less awkward if you have watched other women do it. If you are unable to attend a class, or a support group, I recommend reading a book written specifically about breastfeeding (and NOT one put out by a formula company). See the books listed on this web site.
Breastfeeding is normal. It is what human babies and human mothers are designed to do. Breast milk is what your baby will thrive on. And breastfeeding sets up the easiest way to mother your baby and become attached. The hormones involved are designed to make you relaxed and accepting of all the potentially frustrating and repetitive activities that your days will be filled with as a mother. Formula fed babies are more likely to get sick, have stomach upsets, spit up (and this spit up stains and smells bad), become constipated, sleep more, and go to anyone for a feeding. Formula babies have lower IQ's, more chance of getting childhood leukemia, diarrhea, ear infections, juvenile diabetes, and Crohn's disease. And breasfeeding is a very easy way to feed your baby. No bottles to wash, no formula to buy (you can save about $1000 this way over a year), and nothing to take with you when you leave the house (except the baby and some diapers).
The best person to talk to when you have questions about breastfeeding is someone who will support you to do what you want to do--successfully breastfeed your baby. This person should have the latest information about what practices are important to ensuring success, and should be someone who can listen to your concerns and hear them without judging them or you. An International Board Certified Lactation Consultant has been trained to do all of the above. A friend, or your mother or your Pediatrician may have the information and the support that you need. But if what they say does not feel right to you, or does not agree with what you have read or heard in breastfeeding class, get another opinion. Call me, or email me. My mission is to support you to reach the goals that you have for breastfeeding.
There are lots of things that fathers can do. Babies love to be held between feedings. They need to be burped and danced with and bathed and changed. They will need to be read to and carried around and taken for walks in the stroller. Fathers can help you a lot in the early days. Babies have way too many hands that get in the way, unless Dad holds onto them. Mothers need drinks of water and a bite to eat, a shoulder massage and pillows. Later on, it might be nice for Dad to give the baby a bottle in the evening (wait until the baby is about 4 weeks before you do this). When the baby is eating solids (at around 6 months of age), Dad can feed the baby with a spoon. They make much better airplane noises than mom, anyway.
Pumping should usually wait until the baby is going longer than a couple of hours between feedings--this is usually at about 4 weeks or so. There are some exceptions to this. If you are returning to work at 6 weeks, you might want to start a week earlier. Pumping sessions are usually soon after a feeding ( give yourself a couple of hours to make milk for the next feeding). If you, or someone else gives the baby a bottle of your milk, pump as soon after this as possible, or if you are gone, pump when you come home. A good pump should be effective and mimic the baby's sucking in speed and suction strength. All of the pumps that I sell meet these criteria. When you buy or rent a pump from me, I show you how to get started, and answer all of your questions.