This week we are interviewing Alexandra Sportini, a NICU Mom to an IUGR (Intrauterine Growth Restriction) miracle baby who will soon be 15 months old.
We talk about Alexandra's journey with breast milk which actually started before her son was born while she was in antepartum. From there, we discuss her son's NICU experience, and how, following his birth, she became an exclusive pumper. She was eventually able to nurse her son, and later also became a donor for Prolacta Bioscience, a company dedicated to transforming care for vulnerable babies by unlocking the power of human milk.
Alexandra has currently donated over 4,000 OUNCES of breast milk to NICU babies while still feeding her son
Quick Call Outs from the Episode:
- Lactation and nursing your baby in the NICU can be stressful
- Exclusive Pumping Private Facebook Groups can be a good place to start
- Did you know? Most pumps come with 24mm or 28mm flange size parts, which is not the average size many need. Typically a more appropriate size is 19mm or even 17mm.
- If you start with a flange size that is too big, you won’t empty all the way and that can lead to you thinking that you aren't able to produce enough milk and you may end up feeling defeated
- Pumping is hard! It may sound simple: pump, feed, clean parts, and repeat, but it is time consuming and the routine can be difficult to maintain.
- In addition to getting the right flange size, here are other tools that can help:
- When using a pump it’s helpful to test out different settings. It’s tempting to immediately set the pump to the high suction setting however, that can be painful and is not how a baby would nurse
- Alexandra recommends starting slow and steady. Start on a lower setting and when you are consistently producing at that setting, then increase it
- “The thing with pumping is, you are tricking your body.”
- Play with the pump settings to try to stimulate how a baby will suckle, suckle, suckle, and then do long draw sucks.
- We talked about a safety tips guide for sterilizing your pump parts, if you'd like to refer to it, click here!
Alexandra's NICU Alumni Grad Guide - her advice for after the NICU:
- As your baby prepares to transition home, consider discussing the option of shutting the monitors off with your medical team. This can help you gradually rely on them less, while ensuring the nursing team still has access to your baby's stats at the nurse's station. Please note: This should only be considered if approved by your medical team as not all units are the same.
- Talk about your experience, process what you’ve gone through. It can be incredibly helpful, even after the NICU.
- Other helpful support
- Mental Health checks (talk to your OB)
A special thanks to the Prolacta Bioscience Foundation for supporting the NICU Alumni podcast!
You can also support our mission and help create brighter futures for babies that have graduated from the NICU (who we affectionately refer to as NICU Alumni) and their families by donating here.
The purpose of this podcast is for entertainment only and should not be viewed as medical advice.