I could use some suggestions for a mom nursing a 5 wker, I saw this mom and
baby  at about 5 hrs of age, spont. vag delivery, mom had a "long" epidural,
and had puffy, flat nipples. (she states she always has soft nipples) we did
the sandwhich to compress tissue, but baby would not latch on at all at that
time. She did lots of skin to skin, and later that day did latch on to the
right breast, but with much pain for mom, baby was postioned and latched
correctly. I assumed this was pain from nipples being "pulled out". Next day
baby absolutely refused to nurse. As a last resort before giving a bottle, I
offered a nipple shield, which baby immediately latched and nursed a good,
long time, swallowing heard. Bt wt was 6.3, Dc wt 5-13, today in LC office
was 8.1. She has been very careful with her milk supply, and her main concern
now is that her left nipple doesn't "fill up" the shield and is getting
pinched, which of course causes great pain, this causes shortened nursing and
so she has plugged ducts as well. Pumping is not painful.
I have researched the archives, but didn't see anything about nipple
compression using a shield. She has tried many times to nurse without it,
without success. I feel this is a fragile situation, and am worried this may
cause her to wean. I really appreciate any suggestions offered!!

Margaret Sullivan, ICCE, IBCLC
in HOT Va. Beach, VA

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html