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Date: | Fri, 24 Feb 2006 11:17:39 -0600 |
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How does this mother know her previous babies could not transfer any
milk? Did anyone do some test weights or teach her about active sucking
and diaper counts? What kind of childbirth situations did she have and
how early did she give up? I see so many women supplementing by bottle
large amounts starting on day 1 that I am never sure anymore if they
really had "no milk." Plus if the childbirth situation were one with
lots of pain medications (before and after birth), the baby may not have
learned to properly suck at the breast but could passively swallow on
the bottle.
This is a situation where a full breastfeeding and childbirth history
may give some clues. If mom had non-medicated labors to 40 weekers and
gave no formula until much later in the first week when baby was not
thriving and needed something to eat, then I would suspect low milk
supply. I would also ask about birth control methods and when they were
started.
I'd suggest doing some really good counseling with her on how to latch
on, how to know baby is sucking well (rapid jaw movements in a long
pattern before a short pause then getting going again). The BF Atlas
says babies suck 10-30 times in a row and I would second this from my
observation that it takes about 10 or more sucks in a row to transfer
milk. By day 3, one should hear swallowing sounds, too. Then on day 3-4,
I would do some test weights on the right scale to see how much is being
transfered at the breast. If bottles were used from the beginning with
her other babies, I would caution her to not do this and to observe baby
on day 1 and 2 for appropriate sucking and watch diaper counts and
weight loss. I would also counsel her on how milk transfer on day 1-2
and into day 3 is small amounts.
My girlfriend and I laugh over how she and I both could not hand express
or pump much milk but we both successfully breastfed several babies who
were fat little things on our milk. I would want to know what kind of
pump she tried and how many times, also.
Kathy Eng, BSW, IBCLC
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