From: coleb                Tue May 28, 1996 -- 10:32:22 AM
To: [log in to unmask]@

Melissa -

We have all had to deal with these "experienced" nurses in the hospital who
think they know everything about breastfeeding just because they've worked
there so long.  Ask your nurse how many patients she has seen after
discharge??  How does she know nipple confusion does not happen?  I asked
that to a post-partum nurse once and she had the gall to say "What happens to
the patient after discharge is not my responsibility."  And I said "It
ABSOLUTELY IS your responsibility!!  We are providing education to the mom so
she will feel competent to care for this infant at home.  If the nurse does
not care about the outcome of her teaching, there is something drastically
wrong there.  And if nipple confusion only happens to 10% of the baby
population, that is one mom out of 10 having to deal with it, and *I* was
that mom.  That's just not fair that a nurse caused me that problem!  In this
situation, I feel like the protector of mom and baby.  Although I don't have
any written references, there are a couple of things I have used successfully
with nurses.

        1.  Compare 'drinking from a funnel with her head back while someone
is pouring water into it' to bottle feeding.  Then compare drinking with a
straw to breastfeeding.  Which method is more comfortable?  Which puts the
control on the drinker instead of the feeder?  I have demonstrated that on
nurses (preferably someone who doesn't believe in nipple confusion) to show
the difference with results that include a good laugh.
        2.  I have also used pictures of the baby's tongue movement under the
breast while breastfeeding and behind the nipple to be able to stop the milk
flow IN ORDER TO BREATHE while bottle feeding.  This only works if the person
is willing to listen to the "other side."

As far as using water to fill a newborn up. . . a newborn's stomach is no
bigger than a golf ball.  The small amount of colostrum is plenty to make a
baby feel comfortable.  If the baby wants to suck, let him suck at the
breast.  It's maybe something different if the baby is ravenous the first 24
hours, but in my experience that is the rare case.

Nipple shields . . . Babies have been breastfeeding for thousands of years.
What did they do before nipple shields (or rubber nipples) were invented.
Not everyone could afford a wet nurse.
Hope that helps!
Barb Cole, RN, IBCLC