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Date: | Sun, 1 Jul 2007 16:45:36 +0300 |
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This is a tragic situation and we should encourage women to seek medical
advice if something seems amiss. Many of us who are lactation counsellors
are not registered nurses, and even those who are medically trained, may not
be qualified to check that irregularities are not symptoms of serious
disease.
So it does bother me when there are postings followed by long discussions
about theories and remedies for assymetry, refusal of one breast, strange
discharges and other symptoms not usual commensurate with normal
breast-feeding and often not a word about advising the woman to see her
doctor while we try to work out if there are simple reasons.
Of course we do not want to scare our clients witless and we can suggest all
sorts of reasons for these irregularities but we should not be so reassuring
that she will not get her breasts examined by a qualified practitioner.
The most common reason for breast refusal on one side is positioning and one
can often remedy this quickly by adjusting this, but if this does not help
immediately, I think we should really emphasize that before proceeding with
other ideas, the mother has her breasts checked.
Of course it is distressing and we don`t want to project negative thoughts,
but the fact is that a lot of women are not aware of the significance of
breast refusal and without our encouragement might wait months or until
other symptoms arise. - and we could be saving a life!
This reminds me of the discussion on sleeping positions and S.I.Ds. When we
first heard the recommendations to place babies on their backs to sleep, and
I discussed it with local baby clinic nurses and pediatricians, some of them
said: Don`t scare the parents by bringing up the subject in prenatal
classes. But that fact is that many parents are already scared because they
have heard of cases or even know a friend or family member who has lost a
child. Often, couples ask about it themselves, but even if they don`t, if I
bring up the subject and all the preventative measures that we know of
today, I hear a sigh of relief that someone is actually addressing their
fears.
How we deal with these situations is of course a skill that we acquire in
our training courses and through our work experience but nobody can say it
is easy!
Wendy Blumfield
NCT BFC/ANT Tutor
Israel Childbirth Education Centre.
----- Original Message -----
From: "LACTNET automatic digest system" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, July 01, 2007 8:13 AM
Subject: LACTNET Digest - 30 Jun 2007 to 1 Jul 2007 - Special issue
(#2007-501)
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