Martha said:
<I would say without hesitation that the babies I see now do not feed like
the babies I used to see 10-15 years ago. It is a "difference between common
and normal" as someone on Lactnet put it brilliantly not long ago. >
She is saying that from Oregon, and I am seeing the same thing here in
Israel.  Babies do not breastfeed normally in the first few days.  Does that
mean that we have to relearn and learn new skills to help mothers
breastfeed? And those of us who teach future LC's, how do we prepare them
for this scary phenomenon?
We are all trying all sorts of ways to get breast milk into babies without
upsetting the milk supply, the suck, and leaving the possibility to
eventually get the babies back on the breast. I question myself all the
time.  I have mothers spoon feeding colostrum to sleepy unresponsive babies,
just to make sure that they don't lose too much weight in the 48 hours that
they are in hospital so that they qualify for release.  Is that too
aggressive? It is certainly not natural.
But then giving birth in a hospital is not natural either.
If our profession is baby-led,  if breastfeeding is baby-led, where are they
leading us? Where are we going?
Esther Grunis, IBCLC
Lis Maternity Hospital
Tel Aviv, Israel



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