In a message dated 11/1/0 10:49:29 PM, [log in to unmask] writes:

<< I've been thinking about this swaddling as it relates to the low-income
Hispanic population I see regularly.  They keep socks or mittens on the
baby's hands for MONTHS after the birth.  Did Dr. Widstrom address how this
might affect breastfeeding? >>

There may be someone with more information on this than I have, but I did
work extensively with a low-income Latino population for several years, the
largest group of whom were Puerto Rican. In Puerto Rico, it has been common
practice to *not allow* mothers to breastfeed for the first three days after
birth and indeed some of our clients told us that the Nursery was very far
from the mothers' rooms in many hospitals.
    Also, when there was a large number of immigrants from Puerto Rico into
our community 15 or 20 years ago, it was a point of pride to be able to
afford artificial milk for babies. We have not gotten past the common
practice among Puerto Ricans to "do both", which usually meant weaning within
a few months. The average age of weaning among Latina women was 3 months,
with this number being somewhat deceptive in reference to Puerto Ricans, as
South American women tended to breastfeed about one year, although their
population was only a small percentage (I would guess maybe 15%) of the total.
    I did observe many women using socks on babies' hands and I do believe it
matters a great deal. Unfortunately, in the context of all of the birth
interventions, separation of mother and baby, post partum invasiveness it is
very difficult to tell just how much it might make a difference. Also, most
of our clients wanted quiet babies, so they also used pacifiers and are
hesitant to do anything that might make for a more alert baby (not unlike
most mothers).
    I find that almost anything that impacts bf and attachment is harder to
get moms to change the more they themselves are impacted by intervention. It
is my observation that the less a woman's experience reflects a trust of
nature, the harder it may be for her to tune into and trust nuances such as
feeding cues, stimulus and communication between mother and baby, and so on.
    I think there are many interwoven factors here. In my community, the
poorer a woman is, the more likely she will go to one of two hospital clinics
where she is likely to have no consumer-based education, she may have no
classes available at all if she speaks no English and she will not have the
same opportunity for exposure to attachment parenting, normal birth, labor
support, LLL and so on as other mothers might. It is likely she will make the
same choices her peers make. That is why Peer Counseling is so effective. Of
course, then you need well-trained counselors with the experiences you hope
they will teach to others and the ability and desire to stand up to HCP's who
prefer not to have anything they say challenged by "lay people".
Jennifer Tow, IBCLC, CT, USA

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