Jennifer, we have the same problem here that you describe……7000 miles
away, different culture, same issues.  
Michel Odent claims that epidural births prevent that surge of hormones
in the love "cocktail" at the birth and this causes the mother to, in a
sense, reject the baby, i.e., want to sleep rather than breastfeed him,
or not bond with him.  It is rare that a mom after a totally natural
birth, no matter how long and difficult the birth, will say, " I was too
tired to breastfeed the baby after the birth."  I do hear that from many
moms when I ask if they breastfed in the delivery room after epidural
births.   So again, prenatal courses have to give moms the tools to
labor and deliver naturally.  
Secondly, every morning, I give a mini lecture to the moms.  Part of the
lecture is to get them to understand the way the baby feels after he
comes out into this new world, where he feels totally lost and
frightened and in fact only feels good when he is in his mother's arms.
I explain the risk factors of crying in a newborn in the early days, and
usually when I am talking about crying, we can hear the screaming of
babies from the nursery which really helps. And we can see that the
babies in the room who are on the mothers are quiet and relaxed.  
  I tell moms to imagine that instead of waking up in their bed one
morning, they wake up on Jupiter….they can't see, have trouble breathing
the new air there, feel cold, and miserable, scared.  All sorts of
strange creatures are doing all sorts of strange things to their bodies
and suddenly in the fog, they hear a familiar voice, recognize a
familiar face of someone they love (mother, partner, etc) and of course
let their imaginations run from there.  Many moms start crying when they
hear this, and many get up and go get their babies and hold them for the
rest of the lecture.  I also tell them that this may be the reason for
the marathon feed on day II when the baby only really wants to be in
mom's arms, and soon realizes that the minute she lets go of the breast,
mom puts her back in the plastic box, and as long as she is on the
breast, mom holds her.  
There are too many cases of child abuse being reported in the news.
Could it start in those early days when mom disattaches from her baby
and the responsibility of motherhood?  
Esther Grunis, IBCLC
 

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