I love it when I don't hate it.
We all have a reservoir of tips, tricks and techniques that help us to teach
moms about BF. We all struggle to teach our non-IBCLC colleagues about the
importance of BF, and supporting the mothers who are doing so.
But human beings aren't cookie cutters. They aren't shaped the same -- they
don't learn the same -- they don't teach the same. For some moms (picture
large, heavy, "stiff" breasts, paired with a sleepy, near-term, hung-over
baby), offering suppport of the breast (whether a C or U hold) may be the
"traning wheels" that will help the baby latch and suckle. Then, I love it.
Should this be taught to every single mom? Nah. Should we throw out the
tip or analogy because some nurses teach it poorly or some tired moms learn
it poorly? Nah.
Here's my story about how we "teachers" and "learners" hear things
differently. I teach a prenatal BF class. One of my customary bits is to
suggest that Moms respond to their babies at their earliest cues, so the
babies aren't crying and furious, and unlikely to latch and suckle. Sounds
like pretty good teaching, right? Crying is a late hunger cue, right?
I then saw a former class participant in the hospital. BF was actually
going well per the chart. As I was in the room, babe was in her arms -- and
fussing/cueing/clamoring up a storm. After she didn't take my gentle
suggestion -- twice -- to put the baby to breast, I just straight out asked
her: "You seem to be very reluctant to nurse this baby right now. Is there
something I can help you with?"
Mom said: "But you told us in class *not* to BF the baby when he was
fussing or crying, because then he wouldn't latch on!"
Man oh man, was that a light bulb moment for me.
I am happy to report that Baby immediately latched and (gratefully) suckled
when Mom opened her gown. We then laughed (literally) over our very
different interpretations of the same instruction. And I have since revised
the way I teach moms about fussing babies ....
Liz Brooks, JD, IBCLC
Wyndmoor, PA, USA
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