Hi everyone. Today I saw a client with a 15 week old, my second
visit with her, the first was at 3 weeks. She has all along had
really painful nipples, there is nothing to see. Baby sucks well and
has no oral problems. I have eliminated everything I can think of.
Baby sleeps thru, is settled by day, happy, is exclusively b.f, has
10 - 15 min feeds 2-3 hourly, is thriving. Today, when I saw her, I
thought she was doing a great job, just that she continuously
complains of really painful nipples. She told me she was sexually
abused (incest) as a child, until the age of 18, she had a caeser for
failure to progress with this baby (her first), but sex is painful
and she has rung me numerous times thinking she is pregnant, despite
being on the mini pill and exclusively b.f. I strongly suspect that
the painful nipple problem is due to the history of sexual abuse. I
would appreciate some advice from anyone on how to deal with this.
I did suggest she see a counsellor who deals with sexual abuse
victims, is there anything she can read? Any help would be great.
Val in Busselton, Western Australia
RN RM IBCLC.
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