<An MD just joined in by saying that we shouldn't be so pushy about
breastfeeding.>
pushy about breastfeeding?
When is the last time any of you have actively convinced a woman to
breastfeed....post-nataly, if she did not want to do so in the first
place?
For me it was yesterday and it was the most uncomfortable situation I
have been in in a long time. One of the anesthesiologists , the
epidural god, came up to me in the hallway yesterday and was very
friendly. Until now he has never even said hello to me, probably
because all his danger receptors go off when I am around "Beep, beep,
enemy!!"
He told me that his sister had just given birth, having taken a rest
from mothering for 18 years.....would I please convince her to
breastfeed.
I tried to explain to him nicely that this is not part of my job. I had
28 new moms who were dying to breastfeed and several of them were having
problems due to edema caused by unnecessarily long epidurals (hint,
hint), and I had three sets of twin moms in the NICU who were waiting
for me to help them get their babies to breast for the first time, etc.,
etc. He said please about 5 times, which for a doc is like getting down
on all fours and begging, (no offense to Lactdocs!!), so I agreed to go
in and speak to her.
But first I wanted to make a deal with him......I would go into her if
he promised to convince moms NOT to take epidurals the minute they enter
L&D, and if he could perhaps explain to them before he started inserting
sharp instruments into their spines, that this procedure may effect the
outcome of breastfeeding or the baby's health in general or even the
mom's. He looked at me as if I had just landed from outer space. He
did ask for material on the subject!!
Anyway, his sister was about as interested in breastfeeding as I am in
car mechanics ( minus zero) and it was so awkward to stand there
explaining to this woman who was watching tv over my shoulder while I
spoke. I did convince the doc, who was in the room with me, and he said
that he learned many things that he didn't know before, so it wasn't a
total loss. He couldn't believe that I NEVER do that, at least not
with women who are post-delivery. In pre-natal courses maybe, but
never trying to convince a woman who is totally uninterested. I had a
room full of ladies waiting for me who were dying to breastfeed!!
Are any of you pushy? Try to think of the last time you have actually
convinced a mom who had no intention of breastfeeding to do so. Maybe if
I worked in a small hospital with very few births, I would do so out
of boredom?? as a challenge?
If she had come to my breastfeeding class, I would have stressed certain
points which I sometimes emphasize when a bottle-feeding mom happens to
wander into my class by mistake and I see that it may not be too
late,but I do it so discreetly that she doesn't even feel that she is
being coerced.
OK, now I have to go prepare a bunch of goodies for the epidural god.
Esther Grunis, IBCLC
Lis Maternity Hospital
Tel Aviv, Israel
mailto:[log in to unmask]
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