Hi All,
I have been approached by a lady to enquire about why breastfeeding has
been so problematic for her. She feels she would like to understand what
went "wrong", partly in case she has another baby in future but also
because I think she is looking into doing some kind of breastfeeding
support work in future. Also, I think it would be "educational" for all
of us who have tried to support her in this time, to understand what
happened and maybe help mothers avoid this kind of problem in future.

Her first baby was breastfed for only a very short time before she was
persuaded to wean. Unfortunately, he did not do well on ABM and still
has allergy problems. Due to this, when she had her second baby, she was
very determined to avoid ABM at all costs but it has taken her the
greatest of resolve to nurse this baby. She has consulted with many
different lactation experts in Britain, in an attempt to find a way to
nurse pain-free, but without success. Her baby is currently 10mo and
nursing still hurts, although she says she is now used to the pain and
will continue for some months yet.

Recently, she noticed how well other women's babies "flanged" their
upper and lower lips, as compared to her own babie, who seem to be
unable to flange her upper lip.  She has had trouble cleaning
her older child's front teeth - it seems to be uncomfortable for
him due to the difficulty of getting in between his lip and gum, due to
the frenulum.

We know that the BAB says that unless both lips are flanged, sore
nipples can result. The mother has also seen a paper of a case study of
a baby that had this problem, plus tongue-tie, causing the
mother a lot of problems with breastfeeding; which, when the frenulums
were clipped, improved considerably. However, we have had the 10mo
checked for tongue-tie by several different doctors and we have been
told that she does not have tongue-tie. Is it possible that this problem
could be caused purely by the upper lip not flanging properly?

[FYI, we have already eliminated every other possible cause of
breast/nipple pain and drawn a blank. Despite help from the most expert
sources, this mother has *never* had a pain-free latch in any position,
even some bizarre positions we have tried out of desparation.]
--
Anna (Mummy to Emma, born 17th Jan 1995, Alice, born 11th Sept 1996,
??? due 18th April 1998)
Email: [log in to unmask]  Web Page: http://www.ratbag.demon.co.uk/anna