Free Breastfeeding Help and Support

No-Cost Information, Advice, How-tos and More for Nursing Mothers

Sep 23, 2009

Breastfeeding information, support, even how-to videos are all available to nursing mothers for free online. Here's where to find the best breastfeeding info on the web.

Although breastfeeding is a natural way to feed a baby, often it's a skill that just doesn't come naturally. Fortunately, there is a wealth of practical information available to nursing mothers; and it's absolutely free.

Free Breast-Feeding Information From the U.S. Government

Mothers who are new to breastfeeding can receive An Easy Guide to Breastfeeding provided by the National Women's Health Information Center (part of the U.S. Department of Health). The guide provides answers to common breastfeeding questions and is available in Spanish, Chinese, and three English language editions.

The Women's Health FAQ page lists the benefits of breastfeeding, offers how-to lessons for mothers learning how to breast feed, addresses common concerns of nursing mothers, and features articles about breastfeeding and everyday living. Nursing moms can find useful tips about pumping breast milk and proper breast milk storage, medicine and breastfeeding, when not to breast feed, breastfeeding in the news and more.

This government site, titled Medline Plus, covers breastfeeding basics, breastfeeding in the news, breastfeeding overviews, breastfeeding and nutrition, coping with the challenges of breastfeeding, breast feeding in clinical trials, research on breastfeeding, journal articles about breast feeding, breastfeeding organizations, laws and policies regarding breastfeeding, breastfeeding statistics, helpful information for the fathers of breast fed babies, expert clinical findings about breastfeeding and more.

Free Breast Feeding Support Online

Breastfeeding moms can sign up for Nurture Notes, a e-newsletter from lansinoh.com (makers of an effective lanolin salve for sore nipples) which arrives weekly during the first few weeks of baby's life and once a month thereafter. Nurture Notes offers encouragement, support and useful information for nursing mothers.

Lansinoh's website also offers breastfeeding articles & how-to videos, tips for every stage in a nursing baby's life, and even a handy back-to-work checklist for breastfeeding moms which covers all the details about pumping and storing breast milk.

Breastfeeding moms should definitely visit breastfeeding.com, a very useful site which offers an answer center with hundreds of articles on breastfeeding and related topics, breastfeeding videos, celebrity breastfeeding articles, personal stories from moms, live breastfeeding question and answer sessions, help with common breastfeeding problems, an online nursing community, breastfeeding comics, and more.

Babycenter.com offers breastfeeding basics, the breastfeeding problem solver, helpful articles, nursing-related questions answered by experts, breastfeeding in the news, breast feeding online groups and communities, and interesting quizzes and polls.

Breastfeedingonline.com has a really unique offering: a printable letter that moms can take to the hospital before the baby is born. The letter is to be posted on the new baby's crib and tells the attending nurses how baby and mom will handle feedings to insure breastfeeding success.

More Free Breastfeeding Help

Motherwear, a store which specializes in clothing for nursing others, offers the Essential Breastfeeding Guide which has 34 pages of detailed information about nursing with answers to common questions, tips for successful nursing and more. Motherwear also offers a breastfeeding planner, nursing tips, articles about the benefits of breast milk, a newsletter for breastfeeding moms and useful links to more online breastfeeding support and information.

La Leche League (www.llli.org) is a non-profit organization which supports nursing mothers. Their website offers breastfeeding answer pages, mother-to-mother forums, podcasts, ask-a-question (of your local LLL group or online), breastfeeding and the law, and other useful resources for nursing moms.

Breastfeeding is a wonderful way to feed a baby; it offers excellent nutrition for the baby, affordability and convenience for the mother, and a loving connection for both mother and child. For more information about local breastfeeding support, mothers should ask their doctor or their hospital lactation consultant.

The copyright of the article Free Breastfeeding Help and Support in Breastfeeding is owned by Francine Morrissette. Permission to republish Free Breastfeeding Help and Support in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.