Hi Diane,

Like my colleague, I have also become enamoured of Rebecca Glover's approach to latch.  I bought the video at Boca this past summer and have used parts of it for teaching as well as my own education.  The moms respond very well to the video and really get the message.  I have been using this approach on the floor with new moms and certainly like the results - better latch and less obstruction of noses, which always worries new parents.  I would encourage anyone who can to take a look at this video, "Follow Me, Mum" (I have no financial interest in this.)  While I don't believe this is the holy grail of attachment, I think it is an excellent video and refines and explains a technique that many of us have been working with for quite a while.  I think that this information is an important stop along our journey towards understanding latch.

I guess what I'm wondering is - what is the true definition of "normal" in this situation?  From what I understand, initial soreness is not just the result of modern childbirth techniques - it is also seen in societies when natural birth and universal breastfeeding is the norm.  Although it may be that a lot of the soreness we see is related to slight latch problems, is it "normal" to expect all babies to latch and suck perfectly from the start?  Or is it more nomral to expect that some moms will experience some degree of soreness, for whatever reasons, in the beginning, until various issues are sorted out - be they hormonal, latch, suck, etc.  I still think that spending large amounts of time reattaching babies over and over in search of the "perfect" latch may not be the best use of our time and energy and may be more stressful for new moms in the long run that a few days of tender nipples. If moms are told that all pain is a sign that something is amiss, will any nipple soreness they experience lead them to believe that breastfeeding is not going well right from the start and thus lower their level of confidence in longterm success?

I think we need to work on helping moms achieve the best latch possible in the beginning, without shaking their confidence in their own and their baby's ability to do this themselves. We need to help them to use pain as a tool to recognize possible problems without causing undue alarm.  Perhaps  we need to get better at is spotting those moms who may be getting into real trouble in contrast to those who just need a little time.  Not sure how we can do that.  I think that we need to be very observant and start keeping track, if that's possible, of which moms do get into trouble and what makes them different, assuming they are all getting the same level of care.  I don't think that striving for no pain while allowing for the possibility that some is inevitable, are mutually exclusive positions.

Sorry this is so long and possibly full of typos - had an eye exam this afternoon and my eyes are still quite blurry (not enough to keep me off of Lactnet, though - maybe this is becoming a bit obsessive.) Will take a break for now.  Looking forward to the weekend which is actually supposed to  be WARM!!!
Warmly,
Sharon Knorr, BSMT, ASCP, IBCLC
Newark, NY (near Rochester on Lake Ontario)
mailto:[log in to unmask]

             ***********************************************

To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest)
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
All commands go to [log in to unmask]

The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html