I think what has also changed (25+ yrs experience) are the *parents*. Back in the old days (I live in a small country in Northern Europe) I often had to explain to people what a pump *was* - and people often compared it to a milking-machine for cows.
Hardly anyone would ever dream of buying one during their pregnancy.
When confronted with issues, pumps were rented - big blue boxes, very medical, very 'real'. Starting pumping almost always meant end of feeding at the breast.
Nowadays, a pump seems to be an absolute 'have-to-have' the day after the pregnancytest is positive. I am co-moderating a FB-group with over 15k members, and at least half of the postings are about pumping. So yeah, industry sure found its way there - breastfeeding without having a pump seems impossible. Pumping with your own bare hands seems impossible.
And then a human thing kicks in, I guess. When you got it, you got to use it. So breastfeeding people PUMP. All of them. For whatever reason. And not just to 'cover' a period in which they can't feed, no, they pump for stash, they pump for milkbaths, for donating - the pump seems to be their number one 'go to thing' in their breastfeedingjourney. The increase in pre-birth pumping is mind boggling.
Another thing I see in people who breastfeed, is how 'tough' they are to themselves. Breastfeeding, in my culture, is never combined with words of joy and pleasure. It is surrounded with words which refer to struggle. You have to 'get through', to 'hold on', - words I myself combine with stupid and difficult things like keeping a diet or going to the gym :-)
In case of redness, or swollen-ness, people GO FOR IT.
They don't 'gently massage', they HURT themselves. DEEP massaging - no pain, no gain-attitude. The don't apply 'warmth', they apply HEAT. They feed and pump and feed and pump and feed and pump 8, 10, 12 times within a few hours. KEEP THE BREAST EMPTY. I have always found that a bit weird, because just as easy we say: a breast is never empty :-)
So, maybe, perhaps, we (in the lactation field) are overtaken by our own success. We have done our best to convey the message of warmth-massage-empty - and now it is turning against is, because we never meant it to be a SuperStrictRegime where people would hurt/harm themselves.
Lydia de Raad
Volunteer babyfeedingcounsellor, Netherlands (Europe)
All opinions expressed in this email are my own
-----Oorspronkelijk bericht-----
Van: Lactation Information and Discussion [mailto:[log in to unmask]] Namens Janet Business
Verzonden: maandag 18 juli 2022 02:18
Aan: [log in to unmask]
Onderwerp: New ABM mastitis protocol
As another person who has been doing things a certain way for decades within breastfeeding, I keep reminding myself to have an open mind to new approaches.
So far, I am seeing much better results from being as non-aggressive as possible on the “injured or affected” breast.
We did so much guessing and figuring out in the old days, good for us! Now, some of those ideas need to give way to new research and medical discoveries. It’s hard to change and it’s always smart to be skeptical and see each person and dyad as unique. Yet, we might also be surprised when we try a new approach!
In a completely different arena, but related-have you sized anyone on a 12mm crater flange, or 13mm, or 15, while pumping and have a reaction of “I don’t feel anything and the milk is flowing better than I have ever seen it.”
I would have never dreamed it could work so well!
Open-mindedly,
Janet Dombro, IBCLC
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