Coach Smith here again.
When I lecture to hospital-based professionals, a frequent question is "What
is the best gadget / technique to use when a baby isn't latching?" My
answer is "Find out what's wrong with the baby first, and THEN you might
have some ideas regarding a possible solution." This is, as you might have
guessed, not a popular answer. Everyone wants a quick fix. Sorry, I'm not
buying into that kind of thinking.
Barbara and Lisa and Susan K-H are exactly right. We are seeing WAY too many
otherwise normal, full-term babies, who can't suck normally. Personally, I'm
convinced that a lot of this is related to birth practices (OK, up on my
soapbox now). When I see one of these babies in my private practice, I write
a long letter to the physicians involved, explaining in as neutral a tone as
I can manage that these kids are UNABLE to suck, and SOMETHING IS WRONG.
Just because "device A" or "technique B" gets food into a baby, doesn't mean
that the baby is suddenly normal and fully functional. Being able to eat is
way ahead of starving, of course. Don't stop when a baby can eat - stay
involved (if you can) till the baby is feeding NORMALLY.
I'm trying to get the birthing community, in general, to start looking at
outcomes and take responsibility for the messes we're mopping up afterward.
I document what I'm seeing, cite neurobehavioral literature, and follow the
mother-baby dyad closely. Often I refer to another therapist to more deeply
explore the baby's inability to feed normally, while I try to support the
mother who is grieving deeply that her baby isn't perfect. A week, two
weeks, four weeks, two months later many of these babies are on breast and
apparently doing OK. Are they really? What are their PE teachers, band
instructors, and parents going to discover later on? What are these early
problems doing to the mother-baby relationship, the baby's own
neurobehavioral system, and the mother's confidence?
Then I cry, scream, write another lecture, hit Medline for yet another lit
search, and sigh heavily.
My plea for the day: continue to document what you're seeing. Report back to
the primary providers, citing the published literature as much as you can.
Support the mother and baby - they're at the core of this - and do
everything within your power to keep them together.
Ten years ago we knew SO much less than we know now. Ten years from now
we'll be SO much better at this.
Linda J. Smith, BSE, FACCE, IBCLC
Bright Future Lactation Resource Centre www.bflrc.com
6540 Cedarview Ct., Dayton, OH 45459-1214 USA
(937) 438-9458 email [log in to unmask]
***********************************************
To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [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
|
