Hello Wise Ones,
 
As I was over my post limit yesterday, I offer this today...

Rachel writes:

"Judy,  if the woman  you did the exhausting consultation with this weekend 
got such  great  advice from her mother, the purported lactation consultant 
who showed  her  how to shove and smoosh to get the baby attached and 
feeding, why, I   wonder, was she seeking the advice of someone else?
Could it be that  she  wanted someone to tell her that her mother maybe is 
overripe for a  refresher  course in establishing breastfeeding?"
~~~
Hello Wise  People, and thanks Rachel,

This mom was desperate enough to call a local,  dedicated and knowledgeable 
 LLLL despite her pediatrician's advice to  "stay away from those women."  
After a compassionate and lengthy talk with  the LLLL, she had already moved 
 into "I should have known better" but how  easy is that when your own mom  
is  a hospital professional who only  wants to help, your MD  told you that 
your  baby, who was losing  weight and feeding every 1 1/2-2 hours, should 
do better  being fed only  every 3 hours, since then she might be "really 
hungry" and your  husband  keeps telling you to "put the baby down, it's bad 
to hold her after  she's  done" and other common suggestions. These moms are 
hitting this awful rock  wall,  and when the IBCLC shows up in their 
apartment, we are thrown or  passed the  same rocks in our direction. Whether they 
are the mom's now  too, or whether the  moms want to move forward without 
them ( or can become  able to, as this mom  seemed to, she went from having 
full confidence in  the advice she was given  despite it not working, to being 
open to work  together to see what might), we  try our hardest to remain 
compassionate as  
we try to dismantle this unstable and unworkable  edifice.  I did  hear 
myself saying calmly that it is every  professional's responsibility  to keep 
up with the literature and current  practices, and there are  differences 
between kinds of "lactation consultants."  Still this head  pushing and breast 
smooshing and shoving it in baby's mouth while they  cry is standard current 
practice. 
So we are the Sysiphusses of the  health professional world.

Peace,
Judy

Judy LeVan  Fram,  PT, IBCLC, LLLL
Brooklyn, NY,   USA
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