We are providing very effective and strong prayer for successful breastfeeding in islam. You can get surah to increase breast milk and say it daily that will help you to increase nurishment of your baby.
Breastfeeding, also called nursing, is the process of feeding human breast milk to a child, either directly from the breast or by expressing (pumping out) the milk from the breast and bottle-feeding it to the infant. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that breastfeeding begin within the first hour of a baby’s life and continue as often and as much as the baby wants. During the first few weeks of life babies may nurse roughly every two to three hours, and the duration of a feeding is usually ten to fifteen minutes on each breast. Older children feed less often. Mothers may pump milk so that it can be used later when breastfeeding is not possible. Breastfeeding has a number of benefits to both mother and baby, which infant formula lacks.
prayer for successful breastfeeding in islam
God,
you are like a mother to us all,
nourishing all creatures with food and with blessing.
Strengthen my child with (my milk, this food)
and with the warmth of our nearness.
Or:
Blessed are you, Lord, God of all creation:
you nourish all your children.
— From “Prayers for the Beginning of Life,” National Conference of Catholic Bishops, 1989.
Prayer for Good Feeding and Digestion
Lord of Mercy, we ask that You smile on our baby and give him a good appetite and a good digestive system. May he have no problems latching on to the breast or bottle and no issues with allergies to formula or to foods the mother eats when breastfeeding. As he begins eating solid food, may that all go well. May he enjoy different textures and flavors, chew well, and have no issues with allergies or intolerances. Amen.
Breastfeeding Mother Motherhood
Breastfeeding – Motherhood
Prayer for Nursing
God of our mothers, Sarah, Rivkah, Rachel, and Leah, You remembered me when I longed for this child and in the pain of labor, and You have brought me, rejoicing, to hold this infant in my arms. Now I turn to You again, hoping to feed this child as You feed all living creatures, out of Your boundless lovingkindness; and I trust in you, that in Your goodness You surely will not let my child lack sustenance, neither now nor ever, for the sake of Your great Name. Let any pain that I may feel as I nurse this child be submerged in my joy as I watch the miracle of my flourishing baby; and keep us from any misfortune that may cause suffering to my child or to me between now and the time that my child is safely weaned. May Your goodness teach me to help my child grow both now in my arms and in all the years You grant us together. For you are the God who has always given me good things. Blessed are You, God, who sustains all.
— By Elisheva S. Urbas
Nursing Prayer
Lord,
I know that I want to nurse my baby, yet I’m sometimes filled with questions and anxiety when I think about it. What if it doesn’t come easy for me? What if we can’t figure it out? What if my baby struggles?
I’ve seen moms nursing without a care in the world. They act like nothing unusual is happening. They can talk on the phone, read a book, or carry on a conversation. Some moms can nurse and no one notices. Restaurants and church, all no big deal. I’d love to be one of those moms, but somehow I know I’ll be different. I imagine every feeding will be an event. Maybe I won’t leave the house for a while, until I get the “modest drape thing” mastered. I’m just not ready to involve the whole world in something so intimate.
My prayer is that You will help me. I don’t want to get frustrated and quit. Let this new baby know exactly what to do. Protect us from infections and other complications. Please let me be surprised at how good I can do. Give me patience to nurse on demand. Let nursing be a peaceful bonding time. Block out the world and help me to focus on loving my baby well.
Lord, You created this. You know how it’s supposed to work. I know that You can make nursing come “naturally” for me. I will trust You and look forward to mothering as You planned. I’m a little unsure, but still ready. By Your design, I will believe I can do it. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Prayer to Keep Food Down
Lord our Helper, we ask that our baby will be able to keep his food down when he eats. Help him not to spit up his milk after a feeding. Calm his digestive system, we pray, especially reflux issues. Guide us in the best strategies to prevent him from spitting up after he eats – such as positioning, not over-feeding, and burping him after he nurses or takes his bottle. Keep him from choking on anything that comes back up. Amen.
Opioids and oxytocin are neurochemicals that support the mother-child bond in humans and other mammals.
Opioids and oxytocin are neurochemicals that support the mother-child bond in humans and other mammals.
The Nursing Mom’s Prayer
Dear Lord,
Thank you so much for this precious child and gift that you have given our family. Help me and my husband to raise this child for your glory. Please give us the wisdom that we need to do this your way and not ours. Help us always to seek your face in this journey of parenting. I pray for my child that you would help them to:
HEAD AND MIND – I pray that she would love you with all their mind, heart, and soul. Please let her thoughts be fixed on you and not on the things of this world. Help her to have the helmet of salvation and protect her thoughts throughout her life. May she make up her mind early to follow you and you alone.
EYES – May You turn her eyes away from evil and all that the world will tempt her with and set her gaze upon your holiness, Your return, and how she can serve You until you come.
EARS – May she always turn her ears away from all evil and instead “hear” what Your word says and obey.
MOUTH – May she speak no evil and instead boldly and courageously spread the Gospel to the lost. May the law of kindness be on her tongue and may she encourage and edify those around her and she represents you to a lost world.
HANDS – I pray that she would have hands and arms that are strong for her task and that she would use them to to help the poor and needy. That she would also use her hands to pray show love of Christ to her neighbors and not be idle.
HEART – I pray that my child would have an undivided heart for you and that it would be kept pure and give their heart totally over to you. I pray that she would be a man/woman after God’s own heart when they she is young and as she grows older.
WOMB – I pray that she would be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth with your disciples.
KNEES – I pray that she would be a women on her knees always seeking your face in prayer.
LEGS AND FEET – May she have feet of peace, following on the paths of righteousness–not turning to the left or right but staying on the straight paths and always turning form the path of evil.
Please guard and guide her all the days of her life, in Jesus name I pray. Amen.
— borrowed from June Fuentes @ A Wise Woman Builds Her Home
Prayer Against Colic
Lord of Compassion, we urgently pray that You would relieve the discomfort our baby is feeling. Please deliver all of us from this constant crying despite our efforts to soothe her. Help us and our pediatrician identify the cause – such as sensitivity to breast milk or her formula, or sensitivity to lights or sounds. Help us to find effective ways to comfort her and calm her down when she is in distress. And give us the strength to deal with this stress. Amen.
Prayer of a Mother to Our Lady of La Leche
Description:
The Shrine of Our Lady of La Leche is the first shrine ever to be dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary in the United State, in 1620. It has a statue of the Virgin Mother nursing the Infant Jesus. See the website for Mission of Nombre de Dios for more information about Senora de la Leche y buen parto (Our Lady of the Milk and Happy Delivery. The following prayer is asks Our Lady’s intercession to be a good mother.
Prayer:
To You, lovely Lady of La Leche, and to your Divine Son, do I now dedicate this little baby whom our Father in heaven has given me. Grateful for the trust He has placed in me, I beg you to obtain for me the physical and spiritual graces I need to fulfill my duties at every moment. Inspire me with the motherly sentiments you felt during your days with the Child Jesus. Make it possible for me, in imitation of you, O Lady of La Leche, to nurse my child to perfect health. In all things help me to follow the example which you, as the perfect model of all mothers, have given to me. Let my family mirror the virtues of your Holy Family of Nazareth. Finally, I commend to your loving care all the mothers of earth, in whose hands He has entrusted the souls of His little children. Amen.
surah to increase breast milk
Our son wasn’t born sick, but the path from thriving baby to struggling baby happened very quickly.
He was born with both a lip and a tongue tie but of course, we didn’t know that. I have to say, of all the tests care providers run when a child is born, I wish they had checked the mouth for these defects as well.
The first time I ever put my son to the breast, he didn’t take to it well. We did everything right to give him a good start. I’d had the natural birth – medication free, and pulled my baby onto my bare chest the moment he was born for instant skin to skin contact. We’d waited to cut the umbilical cord until it stopped pulsing so he would get as much blood and nutrients as he could from this life source.
We stayed at the birth center for quite a while so that the midwives could be sure he would nurse before we left. Finally, after help latching each time someone checked on us, a bloody nipple, the use of a nipple shield, and a lot of effort and focus on my part, he ate for a reasonable period of time. I didn’t come to breastfeeding unprepared. I had read every article I came across on the topic. I also read cover to cover The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding. I was completely sold on the importance of exclusively breastfeeding, to include no introduction of bottles and pacifiers or other artificial nipples of any kind. None whatsoever.
We took my newborn son home about 2 o’clock in the morning. My husband and I were anxious to get home. In hindsight, it might have been good to rest at the birth center a little longer or to have asked for help once we were home, but Mother and Baby were both doing well so we were allowed to leave. That first half night was a blur. My husband and I were both excited, exhausted, and completely taken with this little person God had given us charge over. Our son slept on my husband’s chest for the first several nights of his life. We never wanted to put him down. He was so precious and so cuddly.
I guess the next couple feedings went okay. I don’t remember thinking anything was wrong. When we woke up for the 6am feeding, he wouldn’t take to the breast again. We struggled. Finally at 10 am I called the midwives. I was told to express colostrum onto my finger and let him suck and just keep doing that for a while. Babies don’t eat much at all those first couple days. Their stomachs are very small, so their meals are small, but frequent. The key in the beginning is getting that nutrient-rich colostrum. My son suckled on my finger for a couple feedings and this effort sparked within him a new interest in nursing. He began to love to nurse, even though he wasn’t good at it, and I was thrilled and none the wiser that he was struggling to get anything.
Lip and Tongue Ties
I had never heard of these birth defects before the Lactation Consultant (LC) came out to our home when my son was 3 days old. My milk had come in and I felt like we could be doing better, so my husband and I agreed to use this resource. My left breast was engorged and I just wanted to be sure everything was going as it should.
The LC was wonderful, kind, and knowledgeable. She taught me a few tricks and taught me how to use my pump correctly. (I thought, “Like I would ever use that thing.” Boy, did I! Looking back, I was much more prideful about breastfeeding than I had a right to be. I was so determined that “this was how it’s going to be” that I didn’t make allowances for mistakes or things beyond my control. This made dealing with all the issues much more difficult for me emotionally. It hindered by willingness to accept and admit that there were any problems, which made it difficult to ask for help.) The LC said we were doing great. She briefly mentioned he might have a lip tie, but he and I seemed to be doing well as a breastfeeding couple, so she gave us an A+ and went on her way.
When he was 5 days old, I about had a meltdown. Ok ok, I had a meltdown. My mother had just left to go back home. As I finished a much needed shower, and exited the bathroom, my husband thrust our upset son into my arms for me to nurse him. He was screaming and crying! He was too upset to eat and it was clear this was exactly what he needed to do. All the books and articles and care providers said newborns needed to eat every two hours, but he didn’t keep to this at all. He was showing all the signs of hunger but wouldn’t nurse. He was frustrated, as was I because he wouldn’t nurse. To put it bluntly, we were a hot mess!
This hot mess called my cousin who had sent me a text the day before to say, “If you’re having any trouble breastfeeding, give me a call anytime. No matter what time it is.” At this point, I just needed to talk to someone I didn’t have to pay, so I gave her a call.
So there I was, sobbing, face and chest red-streaked, still naked from my shower, holding my screaming newborn. My hair was wet, unbrushed, and tangled, and she said, “Let’s FaceTime.” There’s something about the progression of pregnancy and then the final act of labor that eventually sucks away all your modesty until you just don’t care anymore. Take heart. It does come back….eventually.
To be honest, she didn’t tell me anything I hadn’t either read or been told previously. However her kindness, loving encouragement, and support were exactly what I needed to get through the night.
Let me take this opportunity to say how important having good support is when it comes to breastfeeding. Breastfeeding may seem like the simplest, most intuitive thing in the world, but complications can arise and when they do, it can be one of the most difficult things in the world. Fatigue, fluctuating hormones, and fear of being a good parent can make it difficult to ask for help. So even if your only support is a Facebook group, or a single friend or care provider, reach out to them. It can, and does, get easier – even with complications.
We went in for his one week appointment and he had lost weight. This is expected in all newborns, but typically their birth weight should be regained by two weeks of age. When we went in for his two week appointment, he had lost even more weight. This started the beginning of supplementing. Remember how I was very anti-artificial nipple? Well, I was (and still am) even more anti-baby-choking-coughing-and-aspirating-while-using-a-dropper. He just didn’t know how to take food from it and my husband and I sat there and wept struggling to feed him, while I pumped to keep him supplied with breast milk.
We went in for weight checks every few days. Eventually, we just borrowed a scale to take home. Each time the routine changed because he wasn’t gaining enough. My supply suffered and we went from 100% breast milk, to using a formula (yes, I was anti-formula too) called NeoSure, a Similac formula for premature babies. It has extra calories per ounce and helps babies put on weight faster. I have since learned that there is also the option of using donated milk. Look up an organization near you to learn more about this option.
My son regained his original birth weight by four weeks of age.
Lactation Consultant
We continued to work with the LC. She was a huge reason I continued to breastfeed as she was so very supportive and encouraging. She was constantly brainstorming on how to make breastfeeding easier and more efficient for us. One of the first things she taught us to help with our new supplementing routine was the paced-bottle technique. See technique here. It was also recommended that we use Dr. Brown’s bottles. They are special bottles that have a piece on the inside to help with the aeration and keep the baby from getting gassy.
We broke our rule on “no pacifiers” too. When you’re worried that your baby is crying away all the calories he needs to grow, you get over yourself and your rules pretty quickly.
My husband and I saw my son successfully gain weight on the formula we were given, but we desired for our son to go back to breastfeeding completely, if that was at all possible. We knew of all the benefits to breastfeeding, and we wanted our son to reap them. Our goal was that one day he would be exclusively breastfed.
SNS
We started to decrease his supplements. I can’t remember exactly what that looked like. Our routine seemed to change every week and so sometimes what transpired was a blur. I do remember when he was about 6 weeks old we tried to exclusively breastfeed again. He stopped gaining weight. So we quickly went back to formula again.
The LC carefully recommended I try to use SNS or Supplemental Nursing System. (I say carefully because she did not want me recommending to others. She said that babies have to have a good ability to suck and swallow correctly or they can aspirate so please consult an LC if you are interested in using SNS.)
If you aren’t familiar with SNS, it is a bottle hooked up to small tubes you tape to your breast near the nipple. It’s very contraption-y. The flow to your baby can be controlled by pulling the tubes through notches. For some, giving supplements through SNS can be a great way to transition a baby back to the breast. For others it can be a nightmare.
Conceptionally, SNS is easy to use. In practice it can be tricky. There is an element of trying to hide it from the baby. These young little tykes are smarter than you might think, even at only weeks old! We didn’t want him to see the bottle hanging from my neck, and thus, a visual cue for him to eat. I personally struggled with getting his supplement the right temperature if it had been in the fridge. Most of the time I didn’t time the preparation correctly to get it warm enough before a feeding was required. So obviously there was a noticeable temperature difference when using cold pumped breast milk as a supplement. When using formula, the challenge wasn’t the temperature but the noticeable taste difference.
One comic relief throughout this whole process, was the look on my son’s face when we gave him formula. It was almost like giving a lemon to a baby, but not perhaps, as intense. I used his noticeable preference for the taste of breast milk to fuel my determination to continue to breastfeed.
Let’s face it, up to this point, breastfeeding had been a challenge – and one I didn’t expect. Feedings took twice as long because not only would I nurse him, then give a bottle (Thank God for my wonderful husband), but then I would pump as well. I also realized that all the switching from side to side frustrated my son. All he wanted was to eat. Although, he preferred the breast, (something I was thankful for because many babies turn to preferring the bottle due to the ease of the flow) this did not fill his tummy, so I’d remove him from the breast and switch to the bottle. SNS did help to streamline the supplementing process.
Another challenge, which is comical to write about in hindsight, was that the tubes can easily be pulled to “open the gate” if you will. So a squirming baby, or a move to switch from one side to another, often resulted in a mess. Once the gate is opened, liquid is coming through it until it’s closed again.
I remember one night I tried to use SNS during a feeding and I was so tired. My son was not hungry – he was hANGRY, which was typical for his mid-night feeding. I couldn’t find the cord that allowed the bottle to hang from my neck. I had taken it off to clean. So I carefully propped the bottle on my chest. The struggle was I couldn’t move fast enough. I would get him latched, then try to release the tube, and since he wasn’t getting anything, he’d unlatch himself. Of course, he did this about the same time I released the tube, which caused milk to go everywhere. As you can imagine this became a crazy cycle – one that resulted in my son screaming in frustration, me in tears, and my husband bottle feeding him.
All things considered for my son and me, the SNS was helpful. The flow was there which kept my son interested since he still wasn’t capable of transferring milk effectively. At the same time, the suckling of my little one helped maintain my supply. He wasn’t frustrated and we were on the right path towards exclusively breastfeeding.
I stopped using SNS once my son realized this whole feeding thing would go a lot faster if he just sucked on the tube and he stopped trying to latch. After this, we were on the right track to more breastfeeding. We were down to half the formula we had started with and supplemented with 4 bottle feedings (8-12 oz) a day, each one after time at the breast, after which, I would pump.
Speech Pathologist
The plain and simple truth was my son wasn’t holding up his end of the deal. Successful breastfeeding takes two and he wasn’t extracting the milk he needed. He fell asleep on the breast after less than five minutes and never initiated a letdown. He lacked vigor and I had no clue how to teach him that.
The LC recommended a speech pathologist, which upon her suggestion I thought sounded absolutely absurd for an infant. Well, eventually I broke down and scheduled our appointment with the SP. We saw the improvement the exercises she gave us made in our son, I felt guilty for not calling her earlier. He had weak cheeks; a quivering, tired jaw; and a thin tongue. Who knew “weak cheeks” were a thing?! Although his tongue had good range of motion after releasing the tie, he wasn’t using it correctly.
The exercises she assigned us were easy, fast, and worth every penny we didn’t have. My son actually enjoyed the exercises and we saw a little improvement by the following week, which continued thereafter.
Increasing Milk Supply
My milk supply was suffering. My LC said she thought it had reached the glass ceiling. I have to admit I was devastated by her saying this. I wasn’t willing to believe all this hard work was for nothing. After some research, I decided I wanted to help my supply with domperidone, a prescription medication that has a side effect of increased lactation, although this is not its original purpose. Before I got the medication, I realized throughout all the changes in routine and special systems we had used, I had forgotten some of the very basic things that aid breastfeeding efforts.
I cannot emphasize the importance of doing your due diligence and researching on your own. Heeding the advice of others is a good practice, however, in those early weeks especially, my husband and I felt lost. Finally, we agreed, it was time to take back our parenting. What this meant for us was taking all advice with a grain of salt, figuring out what options we truly had, looking at our end goal, and weighing that against the progress and health of our son. We still listened to all the advice given to us, but each piece had its proper place and our own critical thinking was crucial to make it work for our family.
In my research, I read an article on increasing supply. See article here. This was what helped me remember the breastfeeding basics.
Two of these things were increased time at the breast and lots of skin to skin. So when my son was 10 weeks old, I took a nursing staycation and did just that. I relaxed and stopped stressing about my supply (stress is a worst enemy when it comes to increasing milk supply). I didn’t worry about if he was getting enough and just kept him on the breast as much as possible. If he needed a supplement to top him off, so be it.