HI Fiona!

Here in The Netherlands obturators aren't used much either. It seems easier
to tell every mother that breastfeeding with a cleft lip or palate 'almost
never works'. We have specialized schisis-teams, which ofcourse LACK an
IBCLC :( . Fortunately the brochure : Give us a little time - how to
breastfeed your cleft lip or palate baby is available in Dutch. Sorry for
my probably cynical tone of 'voice' but I'm getting a bit tired of the
twisted way of saying things when breastfeeding is concerned ( see above;
'almost never works' could easily be changed into something like 'is
important for your baby and is worth trying' or something like this- we
have a lot of Lactnuts on this list who could come up with better ways of
saying it :) ). Obturators are used some of the time but my understanding
is that it seem too much work to have to change them every once in a while!
I can only speak from what I know of The N. Ofcourse there must be places
in this country where things are better now, musn't there......?

Cynical in a small country,
wishing you good luck!

Renate RIetveld, IBCLC
Rijswijk, THe Netherlands
At 14:29 3-11-00 -0600, you wrote:

>Reading the Medela brochure mentions the use of the obturator but the paed
>surgeon and plastics team don't use them here - not sure if that is a NZ
>thing or just this city.
>
>I am so new at this stuff, having never dealt with a baby with a cleft
>before!
>


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Renate Rietveld, IBCLC
E-mail  : [log in to unmask]
Homepage: http://home.wanadoo.nl/renate.rietveld.ibclc
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