Cathy
Thank you for the lesson in the physiology of swaddling with arms
crossed on chest vs swaddling with arms down by the sides. How
interesting! I have watched so many midwives attempt to swaddle
babies by strapping their arms by their sides, but these little ones
are strong - as fast as the midwife is wrapping the cloth, the little
arms will be wriggling up towards the chin, effectively leaving them
crossed over the chest, and now you say that this increases
neck/jaw/tongue stability. Well! How absolutely marvellous....!
As to the resilience of breastfeeding, I agree! Everything that can
be done to help moms from cultures where BF is not necessarily the
norm should be done. And I do believe that often these little helpers
and scene-setting preliminaries can tip the balance. But the lesson
for me in the article was the conviction by the mothers that
breastfeeding was "right" and "good", and it was a wonderful reminder
of how I've seen motivation triumph over poor birth practices,
separation, bottles, dummies, you name it... And the reverse is
true. When we try everything and it still doesn't work, and we
wonder where we went wrong, it can help to know that often we can't
control for that magic ingredient - maternal motivation.
Pamela
--------------------------------
Date: Fri, 14 Dec 2012 20:19:00 -0500
From: "Catherine Watson Genna BS, IBCLC" <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: Re: Cultural influence on success and duration of breastfeeding
Very interesting article, thanks for pointing it out, Pamela.
I noticed in the photo of the swaddled baby that the arms are across the
chest, not down against the sides. Bringing the arms across the chest
abducts the shoulder blades, increasing neck/jaw/tongue stability.
I suspect that breastfeeding is more resilient than we think, BUT in
unmotivated or conflicted moms, everything we can do 'right' can make a
huge difference.
Catherine Watson Genna BS, IBCLC NYC cwgenna.com
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