Dear Friends:
Today I visited the mother of a baby girl, born by cesarean section one
week ago. The baby is already an ounce+ over birthweight.
This mother is from India; neither she nor her mother-in-law spoke much
English. She was nursing the baby in an awkward sitting position in the bed.
She had way too many clothes on: bra, long-sleeved shirt, and long-sleeved
dress over that; all were hiked up under her arms. She could barely find her
breast herself. The baby was similarly overdressed: onesie, sleeper, blanket,
mittens, a hat and another blanket.
I asked if she could lie down to nurse. She looked at me blankly. I got
my stuffed bunny out of my nurses's bag, pantomimed giving birth, lay down on
the floor and nursed my baby in side-lying. I asked if she could do that.
She did, as well as undressing. She and her mother were speaking constantly; I
wish I knew what they were saying; it did feel alright.
She was worried she didn't have milk. Even though the baby is pooping
soft yellow poop with every nursing, she doubted her supply. She showed me how
she couldn't take any milk out. She was petting her breast; no wonder no milk
came out. After demonstrating, she squirted me in the chest, and started
leaking. The look and sound of her when she kept saying , "I have milk. I have
milk" with those liquid brown eyes shining like lamps were lit behind them was
so priceless I had to share it with 3,000+ close friends!
warmly,
Nikki Lee RN, MS, Mother of 2, IBCLC, CCE
Maternal-Child Adjunct Faculty Union Institute and University
Film Reviews Editor, Journal of Human Lactation
Support the WHO Code and the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative
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