Regarding this post below:  I am in shock that women don't know when to
draw
the line as to what they feel they can commit to.  Though not an LC, I
have
been fitting women post mastectomy surgery for breast prosthesis for 22
years.

Surgeons tell women patients they won't be really healed for about one
year postop.  They'll have pain, tenderness, nerve sensitivity,
discomfort,
restriction of motion, etc.  They are told to expect to be tired and
need
extra rest, sometimes more caloric intake and good nutrition.  They all
heal at different rates.

What do women (and their husbands and employers) think a C-section is?
A picnic or walk in the park?

It is another type of MAJOR, NON-ELECTIVE (usually) SURGERY.  It also
takes
one year to fully recover.

Any woman who returns to work after four weeks, with all that she must
do
with a household, another child or children is still overstressed.  Add
to that selling a house, buying another house, packing and moving.  Most
of
us would be stressed by that without a newborn or one that arrived via a
surgical procedure.

Let's call a C-section what it is--major surgery.  No man would consider
doing all of this after a major surgery, nor would his wife let him, or
even his doctor.

Then this mother is expected to make adequate milk while her body is yet
in
the process of using its raw materials to heal her wound.  Her body has
to
now once again make extra growth hormone to make her surgical site
"as good as new."

What if she were recovering from an invasive procedure such as surgery
from
an auto accident or gunshot wound?  Would society (relatives, husband,
employer) still be making all these demands of her wounded body?

Women in our culture and country need to wake up to the reality of what
really happens during a C-section, including getting over or de-toxing
from
the anesthesia given.  This is a very unnatural scenerio for the female
body
to undergo.  Other cultures know the stresses of "normal" birth and have
all
other close female members doing for the mother for several weeks--what
doulas
are hired to do to a more limited extend and for a more limited time
span today.

I know that no one wants to call a "normal" pregnancy and delivery an
illness
any longer as that is discriminatory.  But a C-section is not a normal
birth
process and it should be acknowledged for the trauma it really is to the
mother's body.  It was to be a last resort, mother and baby life-saving
procedure.

Judy Ritchie

*******************************************************************************

I too, have had a mom complain of extreme tiredness. Her baby is 31/2
months
old. She claims that her thinking is mostly affected. Someone mentioned
to
her that she might have postpartum depression, she and I discussed that
and
we both agree that she was not depressed. She is just feeling really
tired
and finds her thinking a bit off.

I mentioned to have her thyroid checked and her iron levels. But we also
discussed  what she has done since the birth. She had a cesarean birth,
(after laboring and pushing for 3 hours), she has a three year old, she
went
back to work when baby was four weeks old and works full time. They put
their house on the market, bought a new one and moved. I suggested that
her
body was telling her to slow down and let the healing and recuperation
continue.

Any ideas? My gut is telling me that she pushed herself, and that would
have
a dramatic affect on her healing..which does not happen overnight.

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