Here's another request that we keep lines of communication open.  If LCs
are seeing mothers who are doing something unhelpful to get a baby
latched on - call the person who taught this mother.

I would like to respectfully suggest that there may be a wide variation
between what was initially shown a mother and what the practice turned
into after 3-5 sleep-deprived days.

In the first day or two of latching a baby on, baby may have a tendency
to tuck in the lower lip.  After latch, I may show a mom or dad how to
use their finger to flip the lower lip out while baby stays at the
breast.  This is done gently, quickly, and mom usually reports greater
comfort immediately.  Nursing is more vigorous and effective instantly.
It's a "miracle".

I shudder to think mom and dad could turn this into Forcing The Mouth
Open before every feed.  If a colleague doing a home visit would tell me
this is what she saw, and this is what the mother told her *I* said to
do, it would give me very valuable information for correcting my
descriptions to parents while they are in the hospital.

Don't you want the hospital LCs or midwives to know how their practices
are being interpreted, and what parents are doing one week later? It
would also give the hospital LC the opportunity to respond that she
never saw that mother because she must serve as postpartum nurse due to
budget cuts, or that the mother was Forcing The Mouth Open from the
first latch because that's what the teacher of the breastfeeding class
told her to do.

Let's stop blaming and start talking.
--
Jeanne Mitchell, Austin, TX
"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle."
Plato  http://www.flash.net/~xanth/home.htm
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