Pam says,
<<Helping the mother focus on allowing the baby to do what he is
programmed to do (which is to learn to nurse) by allowing her to do what
she is programmed to do (which is to be in constant physical contact
with her baby) practically eliminates my job as the lactation
consultant.  During rounds yesterday at the hospital, a mother said to
me that the LC she saw the previous day "confused" her with her
explanation of latch and positioning.  This comment really made me think
- are we part of the problem?  Do we get so hung up on the mechanics of
all of this that we are giving mothers the impression that breastfeeding
is so difficult that they will not succeed unless the lactation
consultant is there?>>

Personally, I think the issue is more complicated than that.  We've
talked about this before on LN.  In truth, babies are "programmed" to
root and to suck.  Given the opportunity, they most often will nurse
eventually.  However, I don't think it's as easy as moms being
"programmed" to do skin to skin or be physically close to their babies.
Moms don't necessarily operate on an instinctual basis.  After years of
acculturation, they are operating on an experiential level unless they
consciously make an effort to get in touch with their instincts.  That
is how women can prefer epidurals so they don't have to "feel" labor and
why they can stand to let their baby scream in a crib because the
"experts" advise it even though their hearts are breaking.  Still, they
do it!  The problems with breastfeeding today are as varied as the moms
and babies who attempt it.  Many times, I think it is the "luck of the
draw".  It's the baby who "knows what to do" immediately paired with the
mom who was going to "give it a try" or it's the baby who takes weeks to
get it paired with the mom who won't give up!  Unfortunately, all too
often what we see is those other pairs.  How much pain is enough to make
a woman quit?  That's very individual.  So, sometimes, the barely pink
nipples that we scoff at (because we had scabs and cracks and weeks of
tenderness when we first learned to breastfeed!) are enough to make the
"I'm just going to try it" woman throw in the towel.

Breastfeeding is not instinctual.  It is a learned behavior.  It's like
anything you're learning for the first time.  All the details sound so
confusing and require a lot of concentration when you're first learning
them, but when you get it down, you don't have to think about each
individual step.  When nursing was the norm in society, all the
individual steps were learned at a young age watching your mom and your
aunt and your sister breastfeed.  By the time it was your turn, you just
"knew" what to do.  We don't have that luxury today.  Today, our mothers
have to learn each step.  We are having to describe things we didn't use
to have to, like latch technique and positioning.  Yes, it sounds
confusing, but I think that's artifact of a non-breastfeeding culture,
not anything we are doing wrong.  And you know what?  Sometimes I wonder
myself if a mother is going to be able to latch her baby on by herself
because she required so much help from me.  I "just knew" what position
and how to hold and to latch and so on.   But, if everyone helps and
encourages her, this mom will get it eventually, probably even quickly,
because her baby wants to so badly, as Dianne Weissinger often reminds
us!  There are a few more obstacles in the way of breastfeeding for
mothers today.  Just as there is no one hold that works for every mom,
there is no one set of instructions either.  We have to tailor our help,
and we have to explain.  It sounds complicated because, when you
consider each individual piece of this great quilt that is
breastfeeding, it is intricate and complicated!  At this time in our
history, we LC's are needed.  We know how the pieces fit together!
Every mom and baby we help create a beautiful quilt of love.  Ain't it
grand to be part of that!

Marsha

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Marsha Glass RN, BSN, IBCLC~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mothers have as powerful an influence over the welfare of future
generations as all other earthly causes combined.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~John S. C. Abbot~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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