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Lactation Information and Discussion <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Mon, 27 Sep 1999 20:46:22 +0100
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Laurie writes:
>I agree that we may think something is a really bad idea, yet we would give
>the mother info on how to succeed (e.g. the MBA class); HOWEVER isn't it our
>job to counsel her re all the negative possibilities like compromised
>supply, nipple confusion/preference, etc the consequences of early
>separation, use of pump vs baby at breast, possibility of not pumping
>frequently, plugged ducts, mastitis etc?

Of course it's our job. . This is information sharing, not being disapproving.


>I had to tell her that doing all this w/i the first 3 wks of
>birth was not conducive to her baby learning to bf well, nor her milk supply
>to increase. I debated whether or not to tell her this

No debate at all necessary!  She has a right to know.

 >Was I
>wrong?


No, I don't think so. I often get calls (and I'm sure most of us do) saying
'my baby is fussy/colicky/wakeful whatever...is it okay to give him a
bottle in the evening/after a breastfeed/during the night whatever?'

Surely most of us support and sympathise, and then tell them of course it
is their choice to give a bottle, but if they do, they run certain
risks...and I for one tell them  what they are.  I have a phrase I trot
out, which I like to think is supportive and understanding, but still tells
it like it is: 'Yes, sometimes a bottle can look like a short-term answer
to a difficulty, especially when you're feeling low, but it can have a
longer-term effect - and you don't always know what that might mean for
you....' and then we try to work out alternative ways of dealing with the
difficulty.

Some mothers go to use a bottle, but at least they do it knowing what the
drawbacks are. Some mothers stick with bf, and they have information to
pass on to everyone else who keeps telling them to use formula.

Actually, I am by nature more than capable of showing disapproval. But I
have learnt to sit on this tendency, and there are some people (outside my
immediate family!) who  don't have a clue that I possess it (I hope).

; )

Heather Welford Neil
NCT bfc Newcastle upon Tyne UK

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