Sue said:
<< So, is the lung metaphor
not a good one to use on women who experienced cesarean births? No,
I don't
think so, because upon further thought, I said to myself, "Hmm, if
my
breathing were put in an unfamiliar place, with people scrutinizing
the
efficiency and power of each breath, measuring them to be sure they
are
"good enough," giving medications to make the breaths stronger and
more
efficient, making me scared and nervous, etc., maybe my breathing
WOULD get
confused and erratic. Just like my uterus had been.">>
All I can say is I've been using this lung metaphor for years, with all
sorts of women and all sorts of birth experiences, including cesareans. The
usual reaction is laughter. I've never once had a woman's birth experience
be an issue with regards to my comparison to lungs and other organs, if
that's any reassurance to you. Maybe that's because one of the things that
I am usually trying to do with this example is to get a woman to stop
"blaming" what she *already* sees as her current level of breastfeeding
"failure" upon the functionality of her breasts, which is something she
feels completely powerless to change, and instead focus on what the *true*
cause of her breastfeeding problem is: lack of good information and support.
THAT is something that she CAN change, and indeed already HAS by taking the
proactive step of calling me in the first place. After convincing her that
her that her body DOES work, changing her perspective from "failure" to
"overcome-able obstacle", and patting her on the back for taking action, we
focus together on informing and supporting her. So I take her from a
basically powerless outlook to an empowering one. Or at least I try <g>.
But I have often found that if a woman doesn't believe that her breasts will
function, & indeed were MADE to function, then all of my words about
positioning, diaper counting, and supply/demand fall upon deaf ears. She
quits breastfeeding not because she doesn't know how many diapers her baby
should be wetting, but because she thinks she already knows the answer. Or
because her self-esteem with regards to her body is so low that even a
parade of wet & dirty diapers doesn't convince her. I've seen this happen
at WIC in Miami SOOooo many times, and it truly saddens me.
The comparison to cesareans is relevant, though, IMO, because I have come to
believe that some women have that same "my body failed me" outlook when
breastfeeding doesn't work as they traditionally have in the US when birth
results in a cesarean. A lot of bodily self-esteem can ride on a woman's
breastfeeding experience, just as it can on her birth experience.
Sorry if I rambled :-)
Regina Roig Lane, BS IBCLC for Miami-Dade County WIC
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