Dear Friends:
Ruth's post about babies' abilities to breastfeed reminds me of the
lovely "Hands Off technique" (HOT) that has been described in Breastfeeding Review.
The practitioner uses a baby doll and a model breast, sits by the mothers'
bedside, and demonstrates breastfeeding, using the models. The mother and baby
figure it out together in an atmosphere of encouragement.
From what I see in hospital, there is an expectation that mother and baby
must do it 'right' and 'perfectly' right away and the goal of the
practitioner is to make it happen. I have had mothers weeping when they describe how many
hands have pinched, poked, prodded, ram'ed, shoved and forced baby and breast
together. One mother called it 'nipple rape.' Letting mother and baby figure
it out together, as long as baby is skin-to-skin and mother is comfortable
will have the best results in the healthy, normal situation.
warmly,
Nikki Lee RN, MS, Mother of 2, IBCLC, CCE, CIMI
Maternal-Child Adjunct Faculty Union Institute and University
Film Reviews Editor, Journal of Human Lactation
Support the WHO Code and the Mother-Friendly Childbirth Initiative
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