I've been shadowing one of the LCs at our local hospital recently to get
some more hours ready for the IBLCE exam in July, and one thing that I've
really noticed is that many of the parents have no idea what their baby is
trying to tell them. Part of it seems to be the fact that the babies are all
bundled up and in their bassinet at the end of mom's bed, so they don't pick
up on the subtle feeding cues, but some of it is also that the parents just
don't know what those cues mean. These days I think a lot of parents have
never been exposed to babies until they have their own, and they are so out
of tune with their own instincts that they don't know what to do with their
babies once they arrive. Attitude and expectations also play a big part. I
frequently hear parents refer to their sleepy jaundiced babies as”lazy”, or
“difficult” and unfortunately I still see parents who believe that their
crying baby is “manipulative”. The expectation that babies and children
should be “little adults” is a very damaging one.
As for non-latching babies, I wonder how many are truly “non-latching” and
how many are simply labeled that and then supplemented because they don't
fit in with the hospital's protocols. It seems that often in the first 24
hours, babies are being woken up and put to breast because “it's been 3
hours and it's time to eat” rather than the baby is showing interest. Then
that baby who is trying to sleep and recover from the birth doesn't feed, or
feeds poorly, and the parents and nurses get upset because “baby isn't
latching”. Baby gets supplemented, and mom and baby start down the very
slippery slope of medically unnecessary supplementation (this is a big pet
peeve of mine! ). I used to see the same thing several years ago when I
worked on the mother-baby unit as a nurse. The other huge issue in hospital
is when baby does wake up, and suddenly realizes that he doesn't like his
new surroundings and wants to nurse constantly. The parents panic thinking
that mom doesn't have enough milk, and they supplement. Although some of the
nurses know that it's normal behaviour, they don't seem to be teaching that
to the parents. The parents ask for formula, it's given, and a wonderful
teaching opportunity is missed.
Of course there are also the issues of abnormal birth (which I think also
plays a big part), bottle feeding being the norm in our culture, health care
providers who know nothing about breastfeeding, a lack of support in the
community etc. etc. I certainly think that there are no easy answers. The
problems are complex, and the answers are going to need to be as well.  

Warmly,
Fleur Bickford BSc., RN, LLLL
Ontario, Canada

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