Nikki,
> I think you are right on all three counts. I have never emphasized
> bonding
> for some reason--I guess I just assumed that if breastfeeding was going
> well, bonding would go well.
> I do mention colostrum--but have never looked at it the way you describe.
> Our prental breastfeeding class is only 2 hours long. Every moment is
> precious--to be able to leave that out of the lecture would allow more
> time
> to focus on other things.
> The point you made that I have already expressed feelings about is the
> emphasis that mothers will "love" breastfeeding. I compare it to the
> affection you feel for your spouse--sometimes you like/love them,
> sometimes
> you don't, but that doesn't mean that you let the emotion of the moment
> dictate whether or not you stick with them. When I breastfed sometimes I
> felt tied down, tried of always giving, and given our culture 24 years
> ago, sometimes embarressed that I was "still" breastfeeding. And yet I
> followed my > brain, not my heart on some days and stuck with it until the
> blissful
> feeling returned--for a while. Every day was different, but the goal was
> the same--do what is best for my daughter's health and well-being. I have
> never regretted a day that I breastfed her and the main feeling I remember
> is the bliss--but I also faintly remember the harder days.
> Thanks for sharing your thoughts!
> glenda dickerson
> b'ham, al
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Nikki Lee" <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Tuesday, February 15, 2005 7:07 AM
> Subject: breastfeeding videos and thoughts (long)
>
>
>> Dear Friends:
>> I get to see a lot of breastfeeding videos, which is very interesting
>> and important to our profession. A good video creates emotion and/or
>> teaches,
>> which are both vital in our work.
>> After watching some films today as part of preparing for a class, I
>> had
>> some thoughts to share and questions to pose to you all because I feel
>> confused, and a little sad.
>> My questions are about the teaching of colostrum, the word 'bonding'
>> and
>> the bliss aspect of breastfeeding.
>> The emphasis on colostrum is a complex topic. On one hand, what ever
>> is
>> in the breast that day is perfect for the baby, while there are cultures
>> where the first milk is deemed bad for babies and withheld. So I can
>> understand
>> the importance of disseminating the information about colostrum to a
>> video
>> audience, as many videos do.
>> On the other hand, most of us can drive a car very well without
>> knowing
>> the names and functions of all the parts under the hood. If we had to
>> learn
>> about engines before we were licensed to drive, life would be far more
>> difficult and confusing! Most pregnant women I am working with have
>> about
>> 3 brain
>> cells left to learn anything because all their mental energy is going
>> into
>> thoughts about labor. I don't want to take up one of those brain cells
>> with a
>> term that really isn't important to breastfeeding. She doesn't need to
>> know
>> about colostrum to breastfeed, she needs to know to keep her baby
>> skin-to-skin,
>> to respond to the baby's cues for the breast, and where to find someone
>> to
>> help her with this new relationship.
>> I have two opposing views concerning teaching of colostrum; my
>> tendency
>> is not to mention it, unless the mother asks me. Usually, when they ask,
>> it
>> has been to say, "There isn't really milk at first is there? There is
>> that
>> colastra something..." which requires clarification and proves my point
>> (at
>> least to me :-) that most people need to know that the milk in the
>> breast
>> that
>> day is perfect for the baby, whatever one calls it.
>> Another aspect of videos is that they often portray breastfeeding as
>> bliss. Breastfeeding is ocassionally blissful. Mostly, when one is doing
>> it
>> 15-20 times a day with a new baby, it is forgettable and convenient. We
>> don't
>> have raptures during meals with every bite; there are special meals of
>> course,
>> where there is bliss but that is more the exception than the rule.
>> Doesn't it
>> set mothers up for an impossibility to teach that breastfeeding is
>> blissful?
>> Sometimes mothers in videos are incoherent. They can't describe their
>> feelings, and either say so, or they become speechless and repeat the
>> same
>> phrase "It's just a special feeling ". How well does that inspire a
>> woman? What's
>> the point of showing a mother who can't talk?
>> And that word 'bonding'....something about it jars me. It isn't a
>> natural word to me; I guess because it comes from science, and has been
>> so overused
>> and abused. I would prefer a words like: tenderness, closeness,
>> pleasure,
>> calmness. I can remember working in labor and delivery and hearing
>> nurses
>> say,
>> "Okay, you've bonded now. The baby has to go to the nursery" which
>> always
>> bothered me. As if bonding was some sort of glue or another task, like
>> giving
>> Vitamin K, that could be started and finished.
>> What are your thoughts on these subjects?
>> warmly,
>> Nikki Lee RN, MS, Mother of 2, IBCLC, CCE
>> 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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