I just got back in my office after watching a mom nurse who has widely
spaced, funky nippled breasts and is hirsute and has that PCOS-y body type.

Our nurses have been keeping a close eye on mom and baby. That makes me very
happy!

So I was interested to see Lee Galasso's post. It reminds me of ICEA's
motto: "Freedom of choice based on knowledge of alternatives." I have to
remind myself often that mothers have the right to know things that I know -
and they know more than I do about themselves.

As I watched the baby who was clearly rhythmically swallowing colostrum as
the mom rubbed her contracting uterus -- I breathed a big sigh of relief.
Then I went over how to fill out her breastfeeding log (which Dad did for
the first 24 hrs or so), and discussed how to know her baby was getting
enough.

Then I stated, "You've got a couple of red flags for being careful about
milk supply. So we're going to be careful to get you off to a good start
while you're here - and so far things look great. If we run into problems
later there are things we can do to help - so you keep a good eye, we'll
keep a good eye, and things are likely to go fine."

I find that moms who have funky breasts or "hormone problems" very often
already know it - and they may hesitate to say anything. If we don't speak
up it's just another way to have them think it's too awful to talk about, or
they may think we don't know our stuff.

If it can be done well as a part of good care, I think it can be important -
it gives mom power and makes her the captain of her care, which is as it
should be. That's with plenty of help from the little first mate!!

Dawn Kersula MA, RN, FACCE, IBCLC in frigid southern Vermont
....taking a break from all the paperwork for a VT Telemed workshop
tomorrow!

             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome