Hi All,
Gail writes:

<<My opinion is that anything that is done to a person can be done gently or
not [I bring up the example of pelvic exams for those of us who have not
been intubated lately].  While I don't have a study to back this up, I do
believe that gentle suctioning does not produce as much oral defensiveness
as "go all out and be rough" suctioning.>>

I agree 100%.  With my last baby (home birth) there was meconium in the
waters (it was old, they said, and he had not aspirated any).  The midwife
used gentle but thorough suctioning to make sure that all was clear with
him.  After he had been handed to me, she did was not comfy with the very
quiet sounds he was making, he seemed to me to be "clogged", and so she did
some more suctioning, apologizing to me and PJ, and was unbelieveably
gentle.  PJ didn't even flinch or cry.  When she was done (all of 2
seconds), he sounded much better, and BF was 100% successful and unevenful.
She did not use the blue suction bulb, btw, she used a long, clear, thin
tube and I believe (tho I could be wrong, I was a bit distracted at the time
:) ) that she did the suctioning by sucking ever so gently on the tube,
herself.

To touch on pelvics,  the most gentle Dr I ever had was a man who listened
to me the first time I saw him, and took to heart my past history of sexual
abuse and rape.  The worst Dr I had was a female who told me to shut up and
quit being a pain in the ass, when I tried to tell her that I needed to know
exactly what she was going to do and to tell me before she touched me so I
wouldn't jump off the table.  (Something I cannot help...)  Pelvics are for
me, and others, very traumatic, even with the best and most gentle of Drs.
I go home and am unsettled for days...I wish to God I didn't have to go in
for those things.  I have one coming up next week and am absolutely dreading
it, even tho the New Dr I am seeing has an excellant reputation, and I am
extremely fortunate to have even gotten an appointment.

I can relate to babies and other folks who have had rough treatment and can
totally see why babies react badly to vigorous non gentle suctioning.  I
agree with Gail, that sometimes drastic measures are needed to save a babies
life, and that these measures may not at all be pleasant.  It is times like
that when a good LC should be there to help mom right at the start with her
baby to watch for signs of trauma and oral defensiveness and treat those
problems properly from the get-go, rather than trying to force baby into
more oral frustrations and compound the problem.  Also, when drastic
measures are needed, the more gently they can be done, the better.

Jay
Jay Simpson, CLE
Sacramento (State Capital), California, West Coast, USA
"No Miracles performed here, just a lot of love and hard work."