I'm in the process of taking photos for a talk on evaluating latch, and
recently I had the pleasure of helping a mother I met during her pregnancy,
twice.  BFing is going better than expected, as she had been apprehensive
after hearing horror stories from friends who hadn't succeeded.  But she has
lots of milk and baby is learning quickly how to feed despite some initial
difficulties.  She let me photograph the baby at her breast for my talk. The
breast was elevated with a rolled-up washcloth to get the nipple pointing
more straight ahead instead of floorward.
The baby had a stuffy nose and had been given saline solution as nose drops
but was still making loud snuffling sounds.  But she didn't just have the
breast deeply in her mouth and her chin and nose tip touching it.  I could
not see her EYES, let alone her nose or lips, but we could hear her
snuffling away and I could see her jaw working as in breastfeeding with good
milk transfer.  Mother had extracted over 2 oz (70 ml) of milk to soften and
draw out the breast before trying to latch baby on that side.  She was not
engorged, just milk-filled.  Baby was nursing well on the one side while I
held the pump flange to the more difficult breast.  After the feed she
deposited a large, light green, fairly runny stool in her diaper, her first
stool since passing the last meconium over 24 hours earlier.
I showed the latch pictures to my colleagues over lunch and their responses
were all the same: 'I'm surprised the baby SURVIVED, let alone managed to
get fed, with that latch!'

Not only did she survive, she actually grinned afterwards, and I nearly got
that recorded for posterity as well.  I think she was telling us 'you think
you know so much, but I know what works for me, and you can't tell me a
thing about BFing that I don't already know, and better.'  This mother and
baby were well matched.  The baby is persistent, engaging, and able.  Wide
awake with a steady gaze and a twinkle in her eye, simply does not give up
until she is feeding well.  At the next feed she latched on, helped only by
mother, and they practiced some more.  It was so much fun!

Rachel Myr
mamarazzi (paparazzi, of mammaries) in Kristiansand, Norway

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