Hello!

I just have to say that I now have goose bumps after reading Linda's 
wonderful posting on meeting mom's where they are. We all want this mom to 
fall totally in love with her baby and to feel empowered as a mother.
But sometimes, for reasons that we cannot know,  it's not going to be through 
breastfeeding. 

Each mother comes to us with a past- and if the current statistics are correct 
that 1 out of every 4?? I believe- women have had some experience with 
sexual abuse- then we encounter  more women than we know who struggle 
with their body image,control, flashbacks and fear.
There are women who will have breast feeding be the ultimate healing 
process.But, I also know that each woman comes to us with her own story. 

I always wonder how I can best support them in this part of their story. 

I've had mom's sobbing alone in their hospital room holding their infant- and 
not wanting to put them to breast one more time. They are filled with guilt 
and immense pain- and just needed someone to stand with them in 
compassion about their need to not breastfeed or pump. It's unbearable to 
them and they just want to know that they are still good mothers. They 
desperately need to know that they can love and nurture without the infant 
needing their body in a way that is so painful to them.

Several years ago- I finished a certification in Holistic Nursing and it really 
challenged me to have a greater awareness of the larger picture that may be 
unfolding - and that we're in sacred ground walking with families. We're having 
heart centered communication with the whole person. We're the healing 
enviornment for that mother-family in that moment and as long as we're 
centered in our own role- we can trust that the rest will unfold as it should- 
for the family.

I know that having these conversations about women not breastfeeding can 
be really difficult- and I know we may not all agree but I'm grateful for the 
chance to express what I've experienced in my own clinical practice and life.

Thanks!! ginny combs RN, BSN,IBCLC

 

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