This discussion reminds me of a mom who came to our LLL meetings, about 17 years ago.  She was expecting her fourth baby.  She had tried, but not gotten very far, breastfeeding her first three babies, but really wanted to succeed with the fourth.  I was nursing my youngest son, who is African American, with coloring about like Sydney Poitier or Michael Jordan.  Since I am very white, I didn't need to tell anyone that I didn't give birth to him.  She asked me about it and I told her that I was lactating but needed to supplement, using the Lact-Aid.  I told her that our breastfeeding relationship was the same as anyone else's, and that it meant the world to me to be able to do that.  I didn't make any comparisons to her situation, but she saw some, herself.  She told me that she had come to the meeting feeling like there was little chance that she could overcome the challenges she was facing but that seeing me nursing a baby I didn't give birth to made her feel like, if I could do it, she could too.  A few months later, she was there with her breastfed baby. 

I guess my advice to that mom would be that, if she has the same problems with the new baby, one option would be getting a Lact-Aid to use, to help her make sure that her baby is getting enough nutrition, without having to use bottles, and then spend as much time as possible nursing.  Having it there can make it possible to relax and let the hormones flow, where pumping can sometimes bring on a lot of anxiety for moms who have reason to think their milk supply will be insufficient.  Perhaps once she can get over the first while, she wouldn't need to keep using the Lact-Aid.  Even if she did continue to need it, her baby would be getting the health benefits of some breast milk and they would both be getting the emotional benefits of nurturing at the breast.  If it is very important to her to breastfeed, I am sure that breastfeeding with a supplementer would be much more gratifying for her than bottle feeding formula.  I haven't read all of the responses to this discussion, so I am sorry if I am repeating anything anyone else has all ready said.
 		 	   		  
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