Dear colleagues:
There are many forms of sexual abuse and there are many responses to that
experience. Those responses are dynamic over time. One or more aspects of
breastfeeding may provoke a reliving of past trauma whether or not
intercourse does. Anyone interested in more information on sexual abuse and
breastfeeding might consider a search of the archives. For example, I have
posted several times on this topic (search for "sexual abuse" with
"cgoodmojab" as part of the author's email address). Here are some excerpts
from my previous posts...
"A woman comes to mothering and breastfeeding with a complex cultural
heritage and personal history that no lactation consultant can truly
understand in the limited amount of time that is usually available. I
believe that the safest and most sensitive conclusion that any of us can
make is that the mother is doing the best she can with the support and
information available to her in the context of her particular situation.
Women have the right to *not* reveal their reasons--and to not even fully
*know* their reasons--for breastfeeding (or not) in any particular manner.
Breastfeeding (or not) does not occur in a social or historical vacuum."
"5) We do not have to know whether a mother was sexually abused to offer
her support and information (or even a referral to a mental health care
provider): compassion, working with symptoms (whether we ever know why they
are there) and doing what we can to create a trusting environment will mean
a great deal to the survivor of sexual abuse (as it will to all
breastfeeding mothers) regardless of breastfeeding outcome. 6) Even if a
woman is not ready to talk about or reveal a history of sexual abuse to an
LC, the information provided by the LC regarding how experiences with
sexuality, our bodies, relationships impact breastfeeding can help allay
guilt at experiencing difficulty with breastfeeding. Such information can
always be provided without a woman having to confirm or deny a history of
sexual abuse."
"Especially since potential triggers of traumatic intrusion (a re-living of
past trauma, such as nightmares or flashbacks) for survivors of child
sexual abuse who breastfeed include triggers (a physical, mental or
emotional stimulus that produces a patterned, involuntary response) such as
the sensation of let-down, handling of breasts by self or caregiver,
skin-to-skin contact with self or baby, squirting of milk, physical
sensation of milk on hands or breasts, sucking/licking/biting sensations on
breasts, the sounds of sucking, changing sense of boundaries (breasts now
"belong" to baby), the dependency of the baby (mother can't say "no"),
nighttime or darkness, nursing in bed or lying down, baby playing with
breast, the "demands" of an older baby wanting to nurse, "non-nutritive"
sucking by an older baby, and conflict or anxiety over the nurturing and
sexual roles of the breast." (from a presentation by Dierdre Knowles)
"The breastfeeding mother who was sexually abused as a child may have 1) no
apparent memory of the abuse, 2) some memories of abuse but perceives no
present connection, 3) sudden memories of sexual abuse; 4) she may be
beginning to resolve the abuse or 5) may have resolved past abuse." (from
the work of Kathleen Kendall-Tacket)"
"Bass, E. and Davis, L. (1984) The Courage to Heal. New York: Harper
Perennial.
Banyard, V. (1997). The impact of childhood sexual abuse and family
functioning on four dimensions of women's later parenting. Child Abuse and
Neglect, 21, 1095-1107.
Digman, D. M. (1995). Understanding intimacy as experienced by
breastfeeding women. Health Care for Women International, 16, 477-485.
Gallop, R. McKeever, P., Toner, B., Lancee, W. and Lueck, M. (1995).
Inquiring about childhood sexual abuse as part of the nursing history:
opinions of abused and non-abused nurses. Archives of Psychiatric Nursing,
9:3, 146-151.
Hall, J. (1997). Breastfeeding and sexuality. British Journal of Midwifery,
5:6, 350-354.
Hastings, A.S. (1998). Treating Sexual Shame. New Jersey: Jason Aronson,
Inc.
Hastings, A. S. (1996). Body and Soul. New York, NY: Insight Books.
Hastings, A. S. (1993). Discovering Sexuality that will Satisfy You Both.
Tiburon, CA: The Printed Voice.
Herman, J.L. (1994). Trauma and Recovery. New York: Guilford.
Kendall-Tackett, K. (1998). Breastfeeding and the sexual abuse survivor.
Journal of Human Lactation, 14:2, 125-130.
Kendall-Tackett, K. (1997). Breastfeeding and the sexual abuse survivor,
Leaven, 33:2, 27-29.
Rhodes, N. and Hutchinson, S. (1994). Labor experiences of childhood sexual
abuse survivors. Birth, 21: 4, 213-220.
Robohm, J.S. and Buttenheim, M. (1996). The gynecological care experience
of adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse: a preliminary investigation.
Women and Health, 24:3, 59-75.
Schnarch, D. (1997). Passionate Marriage. New York: Henry Holt and Co.
Weiner, R. (1995). I am a survivor: childhood sexual abuse's effect on
medical consultation. British Medical Journal, 311: 7007, 758.
Williams, N. (1997). Maternal psychological issues in the experience of
breastfeeding. Journal of Human Lactation, 13:1, 57-60."
Cynthia
Cynthia Good Mojab, MS Clinical Psychology, IBCLC
Ammawell
Email: [log in to unmask]
Web site: http://home.attbi.com/~ammawell
***********************************************
To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html
|
