Welcome to the wonderful world of Lactnet, Jennifer.  The moms and babies in
your city are fortunate to have you practicing there.  Since Illinois is the
"birthplace" of La Leche League, I am wondering if you have ever thought of
referring moms in your practice to LLL or suggesting that they attend LLL
meetings.  This would be one way to know that the moms you see are receiving
advice and encouragement from other mothers that is similar to your own,
especially in the area of emphasizing the importance of early mother-baby
togetherness.  One of LLL's basic philosophies is that "Mother and baby need
to be together early and often to establish a satisfying relationship and an
adequate milk supply."  As a Leader, I repeatedly encourage moms to think of
being able to pacify the baby as a positive thing.

I hope your patients realize what a treasure you are.  Just yesterday I had
a help call from a mom whose physician advised her NEVER to feed her baby
more frequently than every two hours (regardless of the baby's crying).  The
doctor (who I know breastfed her own child) advised the mother to feed the
baby, then put her in the crib and not feed her again for two hours no
matter what.  This baby is only 10 days old!  I asked the mom how it made
her feel when her baby was crying, she wasn't responding, and she knew she
had the capacity to calm her baby.  She admitted it made her feel terrible
and that she rarely followed the physician's advice.  I urged her to
continue to feed her baby frequently, enjoy this time, and continue to
pacify this dear little one.  She is planning to come to our LLL meeting in
a few days.  I think mothers truly need to hear (more than once) that it is
OK to feed a baby 12, 20, 30 or more times a day.  This mom seemed
incredulous that my children have each gone for days without crying (during
the first year) and that crying does not have to be a "normal" part of
having an infant.  I admit I have never had a colicky baby and I would never
blame a colicky baby's crying on the mother, though I think it is possible
to comfort a colicky baby with increased skin-to-skin contact.

If you don't know any LLL Leaders in your area, I urge you to go to
http://www.lalecheleague.org/Web/Illinois.html  and find out if there are
any LLL Groups in your city or somewhere near you.

Sara in Nebraska

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