Just finished reading all my postings since New Year's....The concept of
choice was so flagrantly demonstrated to me yesterday.  I went into assess my
patient yesterday am and knew she wasn't breastfeeding but no one could say "why
not".
She had beautiful breasts and nipples already filling at 2 days postpartum.
Her rationale was "my mother never could breastfeed me, she didn't seem to
have enough so I figured I won't have enough." After discussing how everyone is
different and how her body was signally she would have enough, she still was
reluctant.  All the while a female family member (not MoM) was tending
baby...sniffling, sneezing and coughing all over our little one...and get this...wiping
her nose and going right back to busily wiping his face, swaddling. I tried
to tell mom that anyone with a cold or sniffles should refrain from touching
the baby...( I think I saw my words go right on thru and come out on the wall) I
had to be frank and explain that whoever this person was she was not using
good and thoughtful care with this baby...I suggested that breastfeeding would
help protect the little one from everyone with colds...No emotion...the child
had been snotted on and handled by this relative who thought she was
helping...I finally had to tell mom this lady HAD to go SHE IS SICK!  she left after
breakfast and GrandMa of the NO LECHE arrived...I realized by the time I had
changed the child 3 times for vomiting up from being fed 3 oz of formula that she
had made her choice....IGNORANCE is BLISS...I sent her home with a prayer and
reminded her that she might try breastfeeding in the next day or so when she
really felt her milk coming in because it might make her feel better ...by
afternoon she was dripping...all that NO Milk her Mom said she wouldn't have.  Am
I angry a bit ....because she really didn't show she cared...not in her choice
not to breast feed but in her choice to choose to be IGNORANT to basis
handwashing, not allowing her baby to be around a person who was sick..You don't get
sick from family..was the final response from her Mom..Thank God for the
other 3 wonderful women who breastfeed and nutured their babies and went to class
and asked questions even if they were professional MOMs and a sister of a
pedi...They made choices that they could verbalize and shooed a few sickies
away....made their children wash their hands before handling baby and kept the sick
kid home. Choice is a powerful word...it needs knowledge to fuel it...We need
to keep asking the questions.  Yes, I didn't like her answers but I must live
with her choice and I will say a prayer she gets wiser...Say a prayer I get
patience....
Leanne Jewell, RNC LCCE FACCE
SFL

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

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(R)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html