Jeanette's case of the mother with persistent sore nipples brings home one
true reality of our work: sometimes we cannot figure out what the problem
is, and sometimes we can't fix things. I attended a meeting of an Infant
Mental Health Assoc. here in Austin, which I learned about from a sweet
client with whom I'd worked for 2 months on sore nipple issues. She and I
had been trying to get to one of these meetings for months, and when we
finally met the other day, she had the baby with her (now 8 mo old and just
beginning some solids). Baby is gorgeous, with none of the stressed,
colicky behaviors I observed the first 2 months. This was a very difficult
baby, and mom's nipples were constantly tender. We tried many of the things
Jeanette has tried with her case mom, plus we did CST. As we visited the
other day, she surprised me by remarking: "You know my nipples are still
just as sore as ever." The baby was asleep at breast, and she pulled aside
her shirt to show me the baby's shallow latch, still her preferred nursing
style in defiance of all maternal attempts to alter it. The nipple, when
she gently unlatched baby, was pink and rather blanched in the center.
I just shook my head and told her how sorry I was about her never getting to
a place of pain free nursing and asked her about how she felt about the
situation. She told me that she was still grateful she was nursing because
the baby was so obviously happy and healthy. She said she had just decided
to accept her situation and do the best she could.
Now not every woman will decide to persist in the presence of continued
discomfort, and this was a mom who initially needed a huge amount of
emotional shoring up in those first months pp. Although a mental health
prof. herself, praise and reassurance were critical to her ability to
endure. I recall talking with her at least twice a week for many weeks.
Sometimes, when we can't FIX a problem, if we can just be there WITH the
person experiencing it, there may still be an outcome that benefits the
baby. I truly wish I could wave a magic wand for mothers like this so bfg
could be what they dreamed of. Luckily many moms who have persisted like
this have a totally diff. exper. with the next baby. It often is the case
that there is just something funny about the way the baby sucks.
Barbara Wilson-Clay BSEd, IBCLC
Austin Lactation Associates
http://www.lactnews.com
***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html
|
