<<So the end of my little tale is to show that I have had a revelation about
just how hard this work is, not in just getting moms to consider and
actually practice nursing their babies, but getting them confident of being
able to understand that this is what is meant to be and "the milk" is not
the culprit, only our minds are.>>
Patti, I hear you. I agree that, often, what's going on in our clients'
minds is a bigger problem than what is going on inside their breasts. So
many women simply do not believe in their bodies! It boggles the mind.
They don't believe they can give birth, and they don't believe they can
breastfeed. Sometimes, I'll take a 'body-part' kind of approach with my
clients. Focus on breasts as a functioning part of their bodies, the
MALfunctioning of which requires some sort of attention and action, not
nonchalance. I take an approach similar to the following one, depending
upon the woman's personal comfort level with me. Sometimes this is too
strong a stance to take, and sometimes it's just what's needed (and
sometimes it's other *professionals* who need to hear this):
"WHY is it that *breasts* are the ONLY body part that, if it "stops
working", no one runs to the doctor to ask what's wrong, and get it fixed?
Can you imagine? Say, one day, you wake up and your LEFT LEG no longer
works. Just out of the blue, like that. All of your life, it's worked.
Today it doesn't. No apparent reason. Do you just shrug your shoulders and
say, 'Oh well....some legs just don't work! That happens, sometimes, with
legs. Sometimes, for some people, they just don't work. Nothing unusual
about that. Some people can walk, and some can't. How sad that I'm one of
those who can't. Oh well. Guess I'll go out and buy an artificial one.'
HUH? Do you do that? Of course not! Wouldn't you in fact RUN to the doctor?
Call someone? Say, 'HEY! MY LEG DOESN'T WORK! Oh my god! HOW DO I FIX
IT?'
Yet your breasts, OTOH, can apparently stop working at a moment's notice,
for no known reason, and somehow that's ok. It's not a reason to seek
medical attention. It's not unusual. In fact, it's to be expected. It's
NORMAL for your breasts not to work.
Your breasts have a PURPOSE. A FUNCTION. They were put there for a REASON.
They are SUPPOSED to DO SOMETHING other than just look good & sell beer.
Unless there's something WRONG WITH YOU there's no reason to believe you're
incapable of feeding your baby plenty of high-quality milk!"
Can you tell that this drives me absolutely batty LOL? Sometimes I think
that, if I knew how to conduct research, and had the funding, I'd run THIS
study: Get a bunch of pregnant women, and teach them, but not about
childbirth or breastfeeding. Teach them, instead, about their BODIES.
About the wonder and glory of how CAPABLE they are, physically. "MY BODY
WORKS" would be the theme of the intervention and the classes. Their legs
work, their stomachs work, their hearts work, their lungs work, their livers
work, their biceps muscles work, (etc) their BREASTS work, and oh by the way
so does their UTERUS.
Make it both hands on and historical. Show them how strong and capable
women have been under a variety of difficult circumstances throughout the
ages.
Never once give them a childbirth or breastfeeding class, THEN watch the
C-section rates go down, and the breastfeeding rates go up LOL.
I am convinced that that would happen, and until someone runs the study and
proves otherwise, that's what I'm going to believe LOL....
Regina Roig Lane, BS IBCLC for Miami-Dade County WIC, who wants credit if
someone does run that study LOL!
-----Original Message-----
From: Patti Blomme [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Wednesday, August 15, 2001 11:38 AM
Subject: the long road ahead
So the end of my little tale is to show that I have had a revelation about
just how hard this work is, not in just getting moms to consider and
actually practice nursing their babies, but getting them confident of being
able to understand that this is what is meant to be and "the milk" is not
the culprit, only our minds are. I cringe at the multitude of moms that
would be sending their hubby to the local store for a can and bottle (I was
one of those moms with my first).
***********************************************
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
|
