Dear Friends:
     As usual, Barbara Wilson-Clay offers important words from a
compassionate heart.
     I wonder if my excitement about the baby crawling to breast and
self-attaching so much made things more difficult for this mother, especially
when she was at the end of her tolerance.
     It is such a juggling act: trying to balance what I know is best for
breastfeeding or best for the baby with what the mother is wanting and
expressing and also  trying to develop an intimate relationship with a
distressed stranger.
     There is another juggling act too, that comes from an awareness of
professional accountability. When I have spoken of advising a mother to quit
breastfeeding for a while, and pump and bottle feed until the hamburger heals
back into a nipple (and she isn't cringing away from the baby), I have
encountered a raised eyebrow and a sideways glance from another lactation
professional whose opionion I value.
     Is it really true? That even when a nipple is grievously damaged,
correcting the latch will enable a mother to nurse without pain? I haven't
had that experience. Usually when the nipple is exquisitely painful, the
mother instinctively flinches away when attempting to latch. There is no
point continuing then; so pump and cup or bottle feed until she feels ready
to try again. I am very patient about that.
     What do you all think?
     Warmly,
Nikki Lee RN, MSN, Mother of 2, IBCLC, CIMI, CCE, craniosacral therapy
Adjunct faculty, Union Institute and University, Maternal and Child Health:
Lactation Consulting
Supporting the WHO Code and the Mother Friendly Childbirth Initiative

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