Monday, Nov. 4
I received a phone call last friday from a client of mine who has been
through the same difficulties: baby was 9 months old, born with a cleft
in the soft palate, and Mother had worked a great deal to bf her. Nine
months after, the baby is operated on, and refuses the breast. It took
ten days before the baby finally gathered the courage to take the breast
again, with a little prompting from Mom: she dipped her finger in maple
sugar, had the baby lick the finger, then the breast (Mom made sure the
baby was NOT in breastfeeding position, but, rather, sit her up on the
kitchen counter). Then, Mom tricked the baby into latching on, and baby
looked pleasantly surprised that it did not hurt. Mother called me
friday, when she was sure the problem was solved.
I think we should have a second look at the litterature stating that no
interruption of BF is necessary for a cleft lip, cleft palate repair.
Maybe none is required, but one is often the case due to pain, and
Mothers are lead into believing that there should be not problem after
(ad that the surgeons are stupid to suggest such an interruption) We
should make it clear that though interruption is not mandatory, it could
happen, and time and gentle persistence may solve the problem.
Hope it helps, and good luck.

Louise Denhez, M.D., M.P.H
Chargee d'enseignement clinique
Departement de medecine sociale et preventive