What a wonderful story!  If you had not offered the 3rd option (EP) this
mom would have gone on without being able to truly attach to her baby
and/or baby would have would up on formula!  In this particular scenario,
EP was the best option.  Perhaps, having been through therapy before and
now realizing how her early experience limited her ability to directly
breastfeed, she may find that she will be able to nurse a future baby.  If
not, that baby, too, will at least get most of the benefit of it's mother's
milk.  By presenting this alternative, you were advocating for BOTH mom and
baby.

Winnie

> Hi everyone,
>
> I have been away from Lactnet for a long time.. lots of work in the
> newly-started private practice, three little kids... what can I tell you
> that most of you don=B4t already know.
>
> Following the thread on pumping, I wanted to share a beautiful thing that
> happebed a few weeks ago at my office. A mom was referred to me. Several
> people knowledgable in lactation had seen her and she had finally been
sent
> to me. She had intense nipple pain during the feeds but everythig was
> apparently normal. This was a well educated mother, very conscious of the
> importance of bf. I sat with her for a while, watchd a feed; everything
> seemed well, good latch, normal nipples, no sign of infection, the pain
> didn=B4t sound like thrush. But she DID have pain, her face crumpled when
t=
> he
> baby was latched. All the time she kept telling me how hard she was trying
> and how much pain she had and how she though it really was not going to go
> away. After a few minutes I got the clear impression that she was covertly
> asking me for my professional "permission" to stop breastfeeding.
> During all this exchange and feed, she did not once hug or cuddlke or look
> her baby in the eyes, nor did she speak to him. She passed him to me while
> fastening and unfastening her bra.
> Taking all this in, and by pure intuition, I calmly told her it might be
> best if she stopped breastfeeding; she could try pumping only and feeding
> the baby that milk.
> After I said this, there was a SPECTACULAR change. She made me repeat
what =
> I
> had said. Then she HUGGED her child, looked at him and told him how good
he=
> r
> milk was going to be for him. It was really amazing. Like if what was
> blocking her motherhood and attachment capacity had disappeared.
>
> On her next visit she was exclusively pumping and happy. She told me
after =
> I
> gently asked that she had suffered child abuse, and that she had been in
> therapy a long time ago and gotten over it. However she was not surprised,
> when we analyzed it, about what had happened.
>
> It was truly a gift for me to meet this woman.
>
> Glad to be back in Lactnet,
> Kika

             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
Mail all commands to [log in to unmask]
To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or [log in to unmask])
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet or ([log in to unmask])
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]