Nikki wrote:
>I worked with a baby at the far end of this continuum. 3rd baby;
mom an experienced breastfeeder (long-term with 2 older children). This baby
was so impaired she could not eat; she never showed feeding cues, and never
fed well either, despite a patient and loving mamma with a more than adequate
supply. The baby also had a heart defect requiring surgery. Those two factors
together resulted in an inability to gain weight. I will never forget the
anguish of this situation.<

I had a similar case a number of years ago. The mother was a friend
and neighbour who had nursed her son for about two years. Her baby
girl had DS, and despite multiple surgeries and interventions, never
followed any of the usual milestones. The only thing she could do was
nurse, and that was a great comfort to her mother. Eventually, she
even stopped nursing, but her mother continued to express mil for her,
right up to when she died at the age of four years. At the funeral I
could not stop my tears, because this little girl was the same age as
my youngest child. A terrible, terrible tragedy for the whole family.

Another mother,  who started coming to our LLL Group during her
pregnancy, found out before the birth that her baby had DS. Her
husband refused to let her bring the baby home and she gave it up for
adoption. He could not bear the thought that his child could be
anything but *perfect,* although many people tried very hard to
explain to him that there was a huge range within the DS spectrum.  As
it happens, their child was at the high end of the scale, but not
*high* enough for this man. I cried about this too, but for very
different reasons!

norma

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