Sarah said<My questions are:  What factors do you think cause obese mothers
to
> breast-feed for shorter amounts of time than normal weight mothers?  Is
> there any medical intervention to quicken the onset of lactogenesis in
> obese mothers to help promote breast-feeding?  And finally, how often do
> you personally see obese mothers have problems such as those mentioned
> during breast-feeding?  >

HI Sarah, I do not see a lot of obese mums as a private practice IBCLC,
however prior to this as a volunteer breastfeeding counsellor I used to do
many visits in hospital and see obese mums postpartum. Me experaince was
there was often attachment difficulties - big mum, large breasts that may
have need supporting, sometimes mums could not see their own nipples coupled
with a tiny new born baby. Somtimes when I was there to assist with
attachment this was confounded by mothers who reluctant to take off /undo
their upper clothing to allow sufficient access to the breast for baby.
Yes I did see lactogenis II being delayed but as these mums were often
ceaser mums with poorly feeding babies it would be hard to quantify if
possible lowered hormone levels or poorly feeding baby or higher
intervention was the reason behind the delay.
Of interest the larger mums started to find b/f a little easier when the
maternity ward purchased a couch for the nursery rather than just the
previous single chairs or recliners which were not often big enough for the
very large mums to football hold in.
do all these difficulties early postpartum affect breastfeeding rates in
obese mums? IMO yes.
hope this helps.
cheers Susan



Susan Day IBCLC
Breastfeeding counsellor Kalgoorlie-Boulder group of
Australian Breastfeeding Association
Mother to Susan E (91), Catherine (92), Miranda (94), Josephine (97) &
Charlotte (02) Wife to Paul.

Breastfeeding...The first choice for a healthy, sustainable future.

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