Hi all,

I think it was Judy who asked if pushing and shoving the babies onto the breast was an American phenomenon - because of hospitals being 90% non-baby friendly? NO and no. Here in Israel it seems to be the lastest trend over the past few years. The transitional hold is NOT transitional because nurses and even IBCLC's forget to tell the moms to change arms!!!

Years ago we were taught that the transitional hold is for babies that just cannot do it, (or moms who are in a frenzy and cannot do it ) but it was not meant for the wide population. Like so many other things, certain information is taken out of context and then used as the norm. the default hold should be the most natural, either laid back or even the cradle - and if you ever watch a mom trying to do that cross hold -you can see her body contortions, trying to get that babe in the right place at the right time!! Moms suffer from backache due to these acrobatics, the baby doesn't enjoy being pushed no more that we would, and the poor thing is really so new, frail, with not any fat protecting his shoulders against this practice.

I had the honor of giving a talk to nurses from one of the local hospitals, I was received so so warmly and after my presentation, they sat with their mouths wide open. No one had ever taken the time to explain logically the reasons for NOT pushing and shoving. The whole process of a baby opening his mouth, slowly latching on, and the mom watching for his progress in taking in more and more of the breast. You cant even see what he is doing when he is smushed onto the breast, not even waiting for that wide gape.

I think it takes time and patience- the same that we implement when teaching moms, to teach staff and of course that depends on opportunities. They don't always present themselves. Maybe it would be an idea to befriend some of the nurses, and try to offer to have a session on positioning. Or "other options" not by saying this or this is "wrong" but from the point of view of allowing the mom options that might suit her better.

I repeat that it is not only nurses who have adopted this harsh way of latching the baby on - there are lots of LCs and IBCLC's who also recommend it.  As Diane W always says - it’s a matter of language - and we are not really the ones to latch the baby on. It is the baby's job to do the latching. We just have to enable him to do it the best he can - and interfere as little as possible with his natural ability to do this. 

Ellen Shein, LLLI, IBCLC
Tel Aviv - 



 

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