One point that comes to mind before I go nomail through pressure of work.
That is - we should always take our own history of a mother-baby dyad. Even
if someone refers a mother to us and specifies what the problem is, we still
need to take a history.

Examples: I remember a mother who was referred because the baby had a
feeding problem, but focusing on the baby was her way of seeking reassurance
about her prescribed medication for obsessive-compulsive disorder. She
didn't want to offer the information, but wanted someone to ask the
question. Another mother supposedly had depression - but she was trying to
get someone to take her seriously, about an oral anomaly in her child.
Another mother had talked to numerous people about her baby's latch problems
(since this was the history with the previous baby) - and no one contacted
by phone had considered the baby's age. The baby had suddenly become
efficient at taking all she needed in very little time, and she was a little
butterball, growing well.

When a mother has seen several people with different ideas and the
suggestions are getting more and more complicated, time and again it can
help to:

1) go back to the very beginning

2) look at what the situation is right now, today (as it might have changed)

3) see if the simplest explanations are valid (e.g. a baby with low weight
gain, and everyone is focusing on getting the "perfect" latch - but no one
has checked if feeds are scheduled and restricted, the real issue.)

4) acknowledge that there may be several factors contributing - that it may
not be the one problem everyone else has focused on.

5) consider the dyad - what is feasible for this mother in her situation,
now. For instance, what's her hand coordination like in relation to what she
and her baby need to achieve?

#3 and #4 look contradictory - but of course they may apply in different
situations. What I mean is, taking a fresh look. (Perhaps I'm not explaining
myself very well?)

Once again it has been good to see the sharing and respectfulness of the
posts on Lactnet. I have enjoyed my visit.

(Please send any replies to me privately.)

Virginia

 

Dr Virginia Thorley, OAM, PhD, IBCLC, FILCA 

Brisbane, Qld, Australia 

E: [log in to unmask] 

 

 


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