I appreciated Pam Hirsch's comment (August 16) on life-style choices by
mothers who use illicit drugs. She identified safe mothering/parenting for
their children as the #1 goal and reported good outcomes from the
Nurse-Family Partnership program.
I was hit again by the realization that in my job, promoting breastfeeding
in the WIC program, I am in a privileged position to influence parenting
practices for lots of families. We have much less intensive contact with
parents, of course, than in the program Pam described, and this makes it
frustrating. And we see many, many emotionally needy moms who could use (and
deserve to get) a whole lot more support than is available. Still, we do
have this opportunity.
One problem is how to make good parenting models available to WIC families.
In the WIC waiting room, you take your chances. You might see great
parenting; you might see disturbing and worrisome parenting. Two families I
noticed recently are contrasting examples. One was a mother with a
three-year-old and a baby of a couple of months. The baby was in the car
seat on the floor; the mother was leaning over holding a bottle in the
baby's mouth, looking away; the pre-schooler was lying on the floor sucking
her thumb, out of the mother's line of sight. No body contact, no eye
contact, no interaction. Nobody looked happy either.
The other family had a three-yr-old and a baby around 9 months. It was a
Hispanic family. Both parents came to the appointment. I saw the dad
carrying the pre-schooler on his shoulders, and the mother holding the baby.
(I don't know if she was breastfeeding; I did not have a visit with them.)
The kids and the parents were in constant body contact, constant low-key
interaction. Everybody looked happy.
The main concept I got from this year's ILCA conference is the power of
skin-to-skin contact to help get normal feeding (breastfeeding) off to a
good start. I am now trying to tell the prenatal moms at WIC about
skin-to-skin care as we chat about infant feeding. It is a Tough Sell in
South Jersey! I wonder about the power of skin-to-skin contact to encourage
good mothering. Would it help to increase a woman's responsiveness to her
baby? Would it seem just too threatening for a woman who had a history of
abuse herself? Is it "safe" to make a blanket recommendation for
skin-to-skin care of newborns?
What does anybody think?
Chris Mulford, RN, IBCLC
LLL Leader Reserve
working for WIC in South Jersey (Eastern USA)
Co-coordinator, Women & Work Task Force, WABA
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