>Hi all
>I would like to begin a new discussion.  I have been catching up on some
>reading over the holiday and I read an article by a couple of our
>breastfeeding counsellor/IBCLCs that stirs an interesting question in my
>mind. (thanks to Dale Nigro and Louise Duursma)
>I wonder, do we disempower mothers or undermine their confidence in
>breastfeeding by using the term 'insufficient milk' or 'low supply' to
>describe a situation where we see a breastfed baby who is not thriving?

<snip>

Good points, Nina, and it struck me that one strength of the 
voluntary groups supporting mothers, whose work is mostly with 
healthy mothers and babies, tend not to use these terms, though of 
course we hear them from the mothers we are in touch with.

Personally, for years and years when mothers ask or tell me about 
their concerns about their 'low milk supply' , I always something 
like,'and you're concerned because you worry your baby is not taking 
enough milk?'  which does, as you say, immediately reframe the whole 
situation.

It's very useful, too, as when a mother says she is being told to 
supplement with formula or stop bf altogether, I can say, 'so the 
health visitor's only concern is your baby may not be  taking enough 
milk?' and when she confirms that, we can talk about the simple ways 
the mother can get more milk into the baby *without* using formula or 
anything except breastfeeding/breastmilk. We always suggest the 
mother checks back with the HCP,  as a way of educating the HCP and 
also to check that this *is* the only concern (I am not talking about 
situations here with a new baby whose condition has been allowed to 
become serious, by the way, and who may need supplementation to deal 
with dehydration).

It's very common that mothers will 'low supply' are simply not 
feeding often enough, or at night, or they have been told never to 
offer more than one breast per 'session', or they limit feeds in some 
other way.

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc, tutor, UK

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