This is a tragic situation and we should encourage women to seek medical 
advice if something seems amiss.  Many of us who are lactation counsellors 
are not registered nurses, and even those who are medically trained, may not 
be qualified to check that irregularities are not symptoms of serious 
disease.
So it does bother me when there are postings followed by long discussions 
about theories and remedies for assymetry, refusal of one breast, strange 
discharges and other symptoms not usual commensurate with normal 
breast-feeding and often not a word about advising the woman to see her 
doctor while we try to work out if there are simple reasons.

Of course we do not want to scare our clients witless and we can suggest all 
sorts of reasons for these irregularities but we should not be so reassuring 
that she will not get her breasts examined by a qualified practitioner.
The most common reason for breast refusal on one side is positioning and one 
can often remedy this quickly by adjusting this, but if this does not help 
immediately, I think we should really emphasize that before proceeding with 
other ideas, the mother has her breasts checked.
Of course it is distressing and we don`t want to project negative thoughts, 
but the fact is that a lot of women are not aware of the significance of 
breast refusal and without our encouragement might wait months or until 
other symptoms arise. - and we could be saving a life!
This reminds me of the discussion on sleeping positions and S.I.Ds.  When we 
first heard the recommendations to place babies on their backs to sleep, and 
I discussed it with local baby clinic nurses and pediatricians, some of them 
said: Don`t scare the parents by bringing up the subject in prenatal 
classes.  But that fact is that many parents are already scared because they 
have heard of cases or even know a friend or family member who has lost a 
child.  Often, couples ask about it themselves, but even if they don`t, if I 
bring up the subject and all the preventative measures that we know of 
today, I hear a sigh of relief that someone is actually addressing their 
fears.
How we deal with these situations is of course a skill that we acquire in 
our training courses and through our work experience but nobody can say it 
is easy!
Wendy Blumfield
NCT BFC/ANT Tutor
Israel Childbirth Education Centre.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "LACTNET automatic digest system" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, July 01, 2007 8:13 AM
Subject: LACTNET Digest - 30 Jun 2007 to 1 Jul 2007 - Special issue 
(#2007-501)

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