Louise -

If you give the mother all your supporting literature, she can make
whatever decision she likes, whether or not it agrees with the surgeon's
opinion.  He is there to advise, not to dictate, as are we.  She is paying
for services, not handcuffs.  But she'll want to be confident, and needs
literature to make her so.

I'd include in your packet to her the LLL New Beginnings lead story from
some years ago (I can look it up) that describes a couple's search for a
surgeon to repair a cleft lip.  One surgeon said absolutely that bfing
would rip the stitches.  They found another that would "allow" it, could
see as he nursed post-surgery that his upper lip lay smooth and
undisturbed, and had excellent healing - a lesson to them and to the reader
that what one surgeon says isn't necessarily gospel.

If the literature supports post-op bf in her case, and she opts to bf, and
healing goes well, she needs to get back to the surgeon with her
one-subject research results!

(A thought:  older babies use more stroking and less suction, don't they?
And would a cleft palate baby have learned to stroke with virtually *no*
suction?  I assume it's the suction the surgeon is worried about.  And
would a baby stop because of pain if whatever he was doing began to tug at
the incision?)

Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC, LLLL  Ithaca, NY