I thought this email I received from a former client was cogent to the
issue of whether or not to inform clients of our suspicions re: mammary
hypoplasia. I first saw this mom at 3 mos pp with her first baby. She
had type 3 breast configuration, according to the classification system
adapted in the article. She was using an SNS (which she calls a nursing
bottle in this letter). I think the letter makes two good points:
women know the score anyway, so we are only confirming their
observations when we gently point out that they MIGHT have less
glandular tissue than average; and that knowlege is power, and allows
the woman to make the best of her situation.
Dear Cathy:
It's been awhile since you helped me with my daughter Baby 1, but I
wanted to
let you know how much I appreciate that help.
After almost three months of struggling with Baby 1, you were the first
one to
discuss my suspisions that I might not be capable of producing enough
milk to
fully nurse Baby 1 on my own. You explained how it happens in a small
minority of women and that, typically, those women have small, conically
shaped breasts like mine. You even showed me a picture of someone with
these
characteristics that resembled me. What a relief.
Of course the other lactation consultants that I had worked with
discounted
this idea, since Baby 1 had also been diagnosed with a mild tongue tie.
You
need a baby who really sucks well to know for sure, they said (without
much
enthusiasm). Unfortunately Baby 1 had had enough of all the different
feeding
methods soon after I saw you, and she self-weaned from me and my nursing
bottle.
Where your help really mattered was with my new daughter Baby 2. When
she
was born I used all my nursing knowledge to get off to a good start.
She had
no tongue tie and a suck test administered by me proved she sucked
well. At
first things seemed all right, then, they didn't. She lost lots of
weight.
She had few wet diapers and went days without a BM. I knew what I had
to do
and began, slowly at first, supplementing with the nursing bottle. I
nursed
her exclusively like this until she was six weeks old. She was taking
almost
30 ounces a day by then from the bottle. Pumping was a joke so I didn't
even
try after the first few times.
I decided to go back to work and that reduced our nursing sessions to
two or
three a day. I am convinced that I was fully lactated in the six
weeks. My
breasts responded just as you would expect them to, just very little
capacity,
apparently. Even now, Baby 2 is six months old, I have not gotten my
period
back, so my body thinks I am lactating like a "normal" mom. Baby 2
still
nurses and I attribute that to having the nursing bottle and using it
rather
than a plastic nipple to supplement.
--X-Mozilla-Status: 0009nna, IBCLC New York City mailto:[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
|
