Dear Friends:
    A mother called me today; her 7-month old baby has  Horner's syndrome,
which is the result of facial sympathetic nerve damage.  Symptoms are a drooping
eyelid, a constricted pupil and facial dryness.
It can be caused by a tumor, a stroke, injury to the carotid artery,  cluster
headaches, or it can be congenital. The baby also has torticollis.
    This baby was sucked out with a vacuum and had a  huge hematoma at birth.
The pedatric opthalmologist that diagnosed the condition  said that it can
result from vacuum delivery. The mother is in despair because  her baby has had
to go through all sorts of diagnostic tests and because she is  the one that
put the whole picture together of: vacuum extraction, hematoma,  torticollis
and now this Horner's syndrome.
    Baby breastfeeds poorly on one side, hurting her.  She feels that is from
the torticollis. She has approached me for craniosacral  therapy.
    The folks that need to know about this are the  obstetricians and
anesthesiologists; the pediatricians and related specialists  already know it. She
heard it from more than one specialist.
    If she hadn't been induced, and hadn't had an epidural,  this might not
have occurred. If she had gone into labor on her own, and  labored in a loving
environment, where she was free to move about, eat, and do  her work, this
might not have occurred. An undisturbed, spontaneous labor  and delivery would
certainly have reduced the chances.
    warmly,
Nikki Lee RN, MS, Mother of 2, IBCLC, CCE
Maternal-Child Adjunct  Faculty Union Institute and University
Film Reviews Editor, Journal of Human  Lactation
Support the WHO Code and the Mother-Friendly Childbirth  Initiative

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