Barbara,
I do not beleive in treating babies roughly either.  I have recently had
a mom in my practice who was treated like your supervisor.  Her reluctant
baby was shoved on the breast by a hospital LC.  This mom was then
unwilling to try anything further to help this baby breastfeed, because
she felt they were both so traumatized by the LC.  I showed her gentle
positioning and how to offer the breast, and she pumped for a few months,
but soon gave up even trying to offer the breast.  She never did
breastfeed the baby either.  My feelings about forcing babies on the
breast:
-it disempowers mom, because she acted upon rather than acting.
-it does not address the cause of baby's refusal, whether lack of a
critical skill or some discomfort.
-it risks forming aversion to the breast in baby.
-it risks injuring the mother's concept of herself as a mother, by
inducing a sense of guilt or helplessness for colluding in a distasteful
experience for her baby.
        I really think this forcing to the breast thing is for the LC's
benefit, not the mom's or the baby's.  The LC gets to feel that the baby
breastfed, so she is 'successful'.  Then if the mom can't get the baby on
at home (which happens all too often), mom is the 'failure'.  The real
failure is on the part of the LC, who has not taken the effort to assess
the dyad, note the skills that need to be taught, and teach them.


--
Catherine Watson Genna, IBCLC  NYC  [log in to unmask]