No one is saying that it's good evidence, but it's a start.
The authors state that the major intervention in the implementation of
the baby friendly hospital initiative was the removal of artificial
nipples and the substitution of finger feeding in their institution.
One can never innovate if one never tries new practices. Fingerfeeding
is based on research about tactile/proprioceptive processing, some of
the tactile exercises already done in infants to help improve feeding,
with the conditioning aspect of the provision of milk when tongue
movements are sufficient to draw it.
A finger is different from a bottle teat because the finger is
responsive, and can be used to help stimulate and guide tongue
movements, even when a glove is worn. I will agree that fingerfeeding is
NOT close to breastfeeding, but it does provide proprioceptive and
tactile input that can be positive for the infant. Bottles work just as
well if the baby chews the nipple or purses and contracts his lips as if
the baby uses tongue peristalsis. Fingerfeeding by most methods allows
the infant to get milk only by generating negative pressure through
tongue peristalsis with posterior tongue depression, the same way the
breast does. Compensatory lip movement does not bring milk in when
fingerfeeding, neither does excessive jaw compression. Tongue humping
and tongue retraction can be discouraged by changing the orientation of
the finger in the mouth to provide counterpressure against the posterior
tongue, with the reward of milk for working to keep the posterior tongue
down, where it belongs. Can't do that with a bottle. (And I do use
modified bottle feeding in my practice, and cup feeding, and
supplementation at breast, and every other tool we've developed, as my
clinical judgement and the parent's wishes dictate).
There needs to be a balance of potential risks vs potential benefits of
any unproved treatment. If the potential risks are low, then the benefit
need not be proven in order to try the treatment. Craniosacral therapy
is a similarly unproven, low risk procedure that is well accepted by
some that are critical of other interventions. I'd like to see our
profession apply critical reasoning to all our procedures, and not be
unduly prejudiced by either fads or fearmongering.
Catherine Watson Genna, IBCLC NYC
***********************************************
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
|