>
> >Maybe mothers need to LEARN to breastfeed, but babies do not!
>
> No, but they expect not to be drugged when they try,
Both of the above are correct!! We had to learn this natural behavior because of
all the obstacles we faced. This took me back almost 22 years. I can remember the
first time I tried to nurse my first baby, Maya, 14 long hours after giving birth
to her. Balancing Karen Pryor in one hand and Maya in the other....every time we
got it partly right, the book fell off the bed.
But, I was determined to breastfeed, and no matter what happened, for me there
were no other options.
I was in a country where I didn't speak the language at the time and no one tried
to help me, except they gave me beeswax to put on my excruciatingly sore nipples,
which I had to use Brillo pads to clean off!! LLL was very far away in a small
village called Kfar Pines, (pronounced penis.....can you imagine going to a LLL
meeting in a place called Penis Village? I wanted to move there just to see the
look on people's faces when they asked me where I live, and to be closer to LLL)
The point I am trying to make, and I have to make it fast because I am terribly
late to work, is that most of the moms we work with are what we call marginal
moms. They will quit when they hit the first obstacle, so the hardest part of the
job is clearing the path for them of all those obstacles along the way, or at
least giving them motivation to continue and tools to deal with each problem as it
comes along. And giving them legitimacy for following their maternal instincts
which too often conflict with cultural norms. And I try to do this all with fun
and a sense of humour, just to maintain everyone's sanity.
And all this in the two days we have to be with them in the hospital.
Thanks for all your responses to my posts. I am trying to get caught up in
answers!!
Esther Grunis, IBCLC
Lis Maternity Hospital
Tel Aviv, Israel
mailto:[log in to unmask]
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