I have been watching the posts related to childbirth with interest as my
four were born in a time of "fight for your rights" . I feel that we
lactation consultants often are handed a mess created or contributed to by
today's typical birth.  I feel my role as a lactation consultant is to
address the breastfeeding problem and I tend to listen to the birth story
while biting my tongue due to my referral from the ob dr. I hope by getting
the parents on to a good breastfeeding experience and into a local LLL group
there may be hope for future babies.
      I have concerns over the use of pitocin to speed labors and the impact
on the breastfeeding infant. Just a few years ago it was considered "average"
for a primip to deliver in 24 hours. When I do a labor hx today it is seems
the average labor is around 6 hours.  Are levels of pitocin used today
different? It seems if I had to run a course ( to use the sports analogy) in
1/4 the time,  I would be much more physically stressed. I think this
contributes to the uncoordinated suck and lethargic behavior as much as pain
relief  meds. Who gets an epidural without pitocin?? In our area inductions
are as common as sunshine. When my assistant's dr. suggested an induction for
her intended VBAC because Candy whined about being uncomfortable, I finally
opened my mouth.  Candy waited two more weeks, had her VBAC with a 8+ lb'er.
         My daughter is 9- I pray the trend will swing back the other way
before then.
         Debby Kearney, IBCLC in sunny warm FL
PS Hi to everyone from the GLOPAR conference!!