When complications throw a wrench in your pregnancy and the prospect of a premature delivery seems imminent, can breastfeeding your newborn still fit into your mothering plans? According to Carri Buerger and Lori Kolder, both nurses and lactation consultants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Ill., the answer is an emphatic yes.

"It is absolutely a reality," Buerger says.

"We encourage breastfeeding to promote shorter lengths of stay for the baby," Kolder says. "The acuity of illness is decreased and it lessens the chance of colitis and illnesses during hospitalizations."

The key is starting right away – and sticking with it.

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