When we were discussing 'Breast Crawl', Pamela Morrison happened to be
in Penang at WABA, and she obtained for me, the official booklet that
accompanies the video (many thanks Pamela). I've found the time today,
to sit and flick through it, and find it a fascinating read. It
carefully addresses many of the issues that have been raised in here,
and I can certainly recommend the scope and depth of the evidence based
research being presented. It is, of course, much the same info as on
the website, but there is something so much more accessible about
reading a book, as opposed to scrolling down chapter linked web pages.
There were a couple of things I'd like to mention, as I found them
extremely interesting:
The cheek to cheek moment when the baby is given to the mother first for
the prayer - is as much about bonding as anything else, as the mother
and baby are encouraged to rub skin face to face. Mother's have been
spontaneously licking their babies at this moment - something I know
many of you will be interested in. Diane Weissinger in a recent talk I
attended, talked about mothers raising their babies up first to the
face, and looking them straight in the eye, and licking and rubbing
skin, before then placing them on their chests. Whilst we might still
object to the baby being handled by someone else in this sequence on the
video, when reading the literature, it's clear that this sequence is an
echo of this. That mothers, when presented with their newborns directly
to their nose/cheeks, without interference (washing, cleaning etc) were
then spontaneously, and unexpectedly, licking them, was something I
wanted to highlight to you!
Of the 99 babies who were studied doing breast crawl for 4 separate
studies, 98 made successfully latches. 14 of these needed a bit of
help in the actual latch, but all made it to the nipple on their own.
Only 1 baby of the 99 did not initiate the breast crawl.
The booklet acknowledges that the completely 'hands off' method is
somewhat controversial, but clearly sets out why this approach has been
taken under the conditions they are working under. Contrary to how many
of us read the 'hands off' nature, even by the mother, the booklet
explains in detail that leaving the baby to get on with it is actually
as much about emotional context as nutritional. This is to do with
allowing the baby to take it's own time, and find it's own pace. There
was also an interesting side observation done on infants protesting
loudly if they were removed/helped too soon. Some took up to 40 minutes
to 'gear themselves up' for the latch, and if removed or hurried, got
very annoyed. The booklet therefore very clearly supports leaving the
mother and baby undisturbed for at least 2 hours post partum - weighing
etc can wait.
The effects on sedation during the labour, and how this negatively
impacts on the baby, is discussed. Pethidine levels in the plasma etc
are discussed, and the observation made that babies of mothers who have
been medicated, can take three to four hours to recover enough to even
begin the breast crawl movements, and how these babies need to be left
undisturbed on the mother's skin until this happens.
Baby's left to breast crawl cried less in the post partum hours than
those separated. No surprise there then. :-)
Finally, and perhaps most pertinently, the booklet acknowledges how new
this approach is (in terms of medical intervention) and how much still
isn't known. It actively sets out areas for more investigation and
research, and highlights areas where they know there is both
controversy, and perhaps the answers to all the questions are not yet
known. As such, this booklet is an excellent overview of both the
process undertaken in the video, and a respectful and co-operative ethos
on how to move forward between professionals. It does very much set out
to promote breast crawl as 'the method' to support breastfeeding in the
broadest possible spectrum, but does so by putting out its well
researched wares and inviting both comment and collaboration.
The booklet was published in India by Unicef Maharashta, and as such
does not contain an ISBN number that I can quote to you. Perhaps others
here might be able to help track down copies for those who feel it would
be a useful addition to their tool box. Small and pocket sized, 72pp.
Again, many thanks Pamela - this is going to be one of my treasures! :-)
Morgan Gallagher
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