I had only seen one child nursed and then only once before I became unexpectedly pregnant.
I HAD read a story about La Leche League in the reader's digest. So when there was an article in our small town local paper about a LLLLeader and her family who had been to an international LLL conference I went to the meeting. That was over 43 years ago. Some of the women I met there became my dearest friends.
Nursing was not automatic but my son was born with complications and it was the one thing only I could do to help him so I was determined to succeed. I was told several times by my mother that breastfeeding was something women in our family couldn't do. I was young enough to ignore her.
Within 2 years I was a LLLeader. I nursed 3 children in all. Some for years
Our LLL groups were active and as leaders we were frequently called in by local doctors to help with complicated cases. It became clear to us that if we were the most knowledgeable it was our responsibility to get better. We started reading medical journals and chasing down education. The IBCLC credential was developed and with the help of the other leaders I traveled extensively to learn from the knowledge leaders of the time.
I wrote my first exam in 1987. And have been certified since. I was in private practice for many years working alongside local midwives and on contract with local First Nations. I taught prenatal classes from 1986 to 2019. I worked on contract with a local health unit for the past 22 years retiring just as the Covid closure developed.
During my 33 years as an LC I served on the Canadian LC Association board for a few years, the ILCA board for a couple of years, and my regional Association BCLCA for several years. I organized several conferences to bring in international speakers with the intent of increasing local knowledge and reducing the cost of education so others didn't have to travel the way it used to be necessary. It has been a great time and fascinating to what the social change which has taken place. At the same time it can be disheartening to fight some of the same battles over and over again.
The families and babies made it worthwhile.
Rhoda Taylor B.A., M.P.H., I.B.C.L.C.
As a note my first degree is in Geography . This is not the work I anticipated I would spend my life doing.
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Subject: LACTNET Digest - 18 Jul 2020 to 19 Jul 2020 (#2020-128)
There are 2 messages totaling 224 lines in this issue.
Topics of the day:
1. My Story
2. My story -- Nadia
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I am about to take the ILCA exam for the 4th time! This all started with
me always wanting to do the most natural thing. Like bake my own bread,
grow a garden, be independent of pressure from culture to do things which
did not seem natural to me. Before I was pregnant, my two sisters both had
a child, and breastfed, tho they are in MA, and I was in NJ where I was an
international airline hostess.flying out of Kennedy Airport. They told me
our mother breastfed us, so they thought it was a good thing to do. This
was late '60s.
So when i got pregnant, i told my OB that I was going to bf, and he had
no comment. When the baby arrived, the nurse handed me the baby after the
first 12 hours of his life (remember, they had to make sure they could
swallow and suck so they gave them formula!), I had a 3 hr labor, due to
walking 3-5 miles a day throughout my pregnancy, but was "put under" for
the actual delivery, and have NO memory of what happened til I woke in my
room alone, except for my roommate who was a nurse in that hospital who
also had just delivered.
Needless to say, she was not bf, and no one helped me, or asked any
questions. I went home in 48 hr, from admit, and I remember some anxiety
about what to do with this 6# 10oz little guy when I got home. Nurse q 4
hr, let him cry if it's not time to feed, get your rest: That was my advice
from hospital.
Needless to say, things did not go well. But they had given me formula
so if he cried after a breastfeeding, I gave him formula. I struggled thru
6 weeks, lots of frustration, I had more tears than he did, and no one in
my neighborhood had any experience with bf. Sigh.
Fast forward 11 years, and I had just finished my community nutrition
degree and got a job with WIC. They gave tacit support to BF but my heart
was going out to these moms who struggled. I read what I could, shared my
LLL book, went to all the trainings I could, etc. Finally in 1989, I took
the UCLA course in Buffalo, NY and the following summer, took the exam. I
became the BF Coordinator and leader of the peer counselors, and after 4
years moved to NH where I got a similar job with WIC, and was one of the
founding "mothers" of the NH Breastfeeding Task Force in 1996. We became a
501c3 in 2010? and I served as treasurer for an eternity! Finally left
that position in 2017 but remain on the Task Force which has amazing
leadership, and is known around the US.
In 2001, I got a job in a pediatric practice, and this was my dream job!
I could round with the pediatricians, then come back to the office and
phone or see mother/baby dyads.The physicians nearly all gave me great
support, and I earned their respect as an LC. At age 72 I was able to
retire by leaving the practice in the hands of another LC/RD who was in her
30s. Perfect replacement!
I loved sharing the first hours of a baby's life and the experience of
postpartum glow with mothers/families. It was a great honor, and i learned
constantly,and tried to become the best LC I could be. I am sure all of
you have been somewhere when a mother will stop you to say, remember 'joey'
and his first days/weeks of breastfeeding! Most of the ones who remember
you are the ones who had problems! And you helped them along. Best job
ever.
--
Michelle Scott, MA, RD/LD, IBCLC
Pediatric Dietitian/Lactation Consultant
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*Joy doesn't betray but sustains activism. And when you face a politics
that aspires to make you fearful, alienated and isolated, joy is a fine act
of insurrection. **Rebecca Solnit*
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To Nadia --
Thank you for sharing your story. It was story that needed to be told,
to affirm that mothers continue to walk some very difficult paths with
breastfeeding. And perhaps it was hard for you to post something so
heartfelt out in this forum and then not get any quick response.
(Lactnet has become a very low-traffic site).
You told about a whole tangle of factors that undermined your
breastfeeding. In your work as an IBCLC, you're helping mothers all the
time with painful feeds, the confidence-shaking weight problems, a
down-regulated milk supply, maternal depression and more -- so you feel
some common ground. But you also discuss that the African American
experience with breastfeeding adds another layer to how you view your
experience.
You make an important point -- in the big learning curve of
breastfeeding, mothers need to feel that this is an ordinary activity
that their families and friends, people like them, just will learn how
to do. In an old, but valuable book,"The Problem with Breastfeeding"
Jame Akre, who worked internationally in public health, noted "Mothers
don't breastfeed; cultures do," We put mothers in a painful bind when
we tell them they should breastfeed, but don't provide the individual
and cultural practical support.
Good luck to us all in our work.
Margaret Wills, IBCLC, Maryland
> Date: Fri, 17 Jul 2020 08:28:09 -0400
> From: "Nadia Wiltz BSN, IBCLC."<[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: My story
>
> I am an African American RN who became an IBCLC in 2013. I don’t have a story of seeing my mother breastfeed. She was the oldest girl in her family, so as she was having her children, her own mother was still raising young children of her own. She didn’t have the support that most mothers have. So when the nurse handed each on of us to her and she attempted to breastfeed, without their support, she quickly called for a bottle of formula. She recalled doing that with all four of us. I can assume, that I was likely the most difficult attempt, weighing in at 5lb 1oz 1 month premature. My mom was a brilliant woman who excelled at everything she touched. At least 400 of our family, friends and former students came to her homegoing celebration and commented countlessly how Mrs. Wiltz “was something else, strong, committed, fearless.” So why couldn’t she breastfeed.
>
> Fast forward, to my second oldest sister by 12 years who became a nurse. I watched her breastfeed my nephew. She seemed to do it flawlessly to my 14 year old self. I would not find out until I birthed my own children about the pain, breast engorgement and that she didn’t make it past 6-7 months. My 3rd oldest sister birthed a 36 weeker and fed her every 2 hours until she went back to work at 8 weeks. She couldn’t keep up with the pumping routine and gave up by 3 months.
>
> My story doesn’t end any differently. However, I had been a mother/baby nurse for at least 6 years and a lactation consultant for 1 year(I would sit for the IBCLC exam a month after I returned from maternity leave) prior to having my first child. I like to say I’m not sure where the gift to support mothers breastfeeding came from. But deep down I know it is in my DNA. I have assisted a countless number of women of all races, religions and ethnicities reach their breastfeeding goals.
>
> When I set out to nurse my first son, I was beaming with confidence. Partly, because of all the mothers who said to me as I helped them while I was pregnant that “I was going to be great at this.” He latched in flawlessly and had his first meal in the OR. Some back story, my mother who had been my biggest cheerleader, died when I was 3 months pregnant, so I too for others reasons than she, would not have a mothers support after having my child. I was also a single mother with a partly supportive partner.
>
> I had some pain in the hospital but we seemed to be getting the hang of it. I used a nipple shield off/on when the pain was too much and pumped only a handful of times. As, I had counseled others, I slept one block of 4 hours overnight and fed on demand or by 3 hours during the day. I should have noticed the fullness of breast as a warning sign each time I woke after the 4 hours, but I didn’t. Even his frequency increase of every 2 hours didn’t alarm me. I would feed him whenever he wanted. By the time we got to our 2 week visit he was 5 lbs under birthweight. The doctor was alarmed and quickly gave me samples of formula with instruction to feed him 3oz after I breastfed. I was in a fog. How could my baby be underweight. I quickly support from an IBCLC who did a pre/post feeding weight and he transferred only 1oz. She reiterated to feed him 3oz. I did this while pumping, managing high blood pressure and feet swelling all by myself. His weight improved but my pain came back and you know it ends we got further and further from my goal of 2 years exclusive breastfeeding. I only made it 2 weeks with another week of supplementing before I called it quits. As the depression set in I yearned for being able to take it all back and start over.
>
> My next son, was tongue tied and after two revisions and excruciating pain, tube feedings at the breast, a lactation consult and lots of tears. I pumped exclusively for only 3 weeks and then gave up.
>
> I sit here wondering, how could I help so many others and not even help myself. I know that I didn’t have the support that I myself have given my patients. But why is that? Now when I look at pictures of slaves breastfeeding another woman’s child, I too feel the sting of giving myself to others and having nothing in return. My hope is that sharing this story will enlighten you to the lingering effects of racism with regards to breastfeeding and how this still haunts many of the African American women that you will encounter. Know that it’s not as simple as making a choice to breastfeed. If the support from your family, community and peers is not there, their journey will be similar to mine.
>
> Blessings to you all
>
>
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