Greetings!  Although I've posted once, and been reading lots, I haven't
actually introduced myself.  My name is Katie Winchell & I have a BS in
Zoology, have worked in biomedical research at U of Fla. & NIH, nursed my now
15 yr. old son, Adrian, was a LLL Leader for 7 years, and am now IBCLC, the
cofounder of the Western North Carolina Breastfeeding Center at Memorial
Mission Hospital in Asheville, NC, USA (how neat to have to add what country
I'm from!).  I'm currently working on organizing all my journal articles so
I'll have my "ammo" ready when I get into discussions with fellow
professionals at the hospital, so I'm copying down all your wonderful
references on various (often controversial) topics to add to my collection.
    Snippets:







































                                                                           My
partner and I "researched" teabags several years ago because they were being
handed out to everyone to 'prevent' sore nipples.  We found that the tannic
acid in regular (not herbal) teabags is hemostatic & astringent, so may be
useful for moms with cracked & bleeding nipples, but wouldn't do much for the
mom who is just a little tender.  (That's probably why teabags were
recommended to me the day I had my wisdom teeth out.  I have a picture of me
with the string hanging out of my mouth - helped stop the bleeding & pull the
cut together to heal.)  One of our big problems with moms using them is that
they were putting them on their nipples boiling hot!  When I do suggest them
I tell the moms to make a cup of tea, squeeze out the bag, set it on the
saucer & LET IT COME TO ROOM TEMPERATURE, then put it on their nipple for 10
or 15 minutes.  One mom had also left them in her bra as breastpads, so I
give them a time limit.
     I've had luck in at least one case of mother with vasoconstriction on
the nipples (nipple blanching) of treating her with ibuprofen for a couple of
days.  The muscle relaxant capability may have helped (at least that was my
theory in suggesting it).
     I've been interested in all the postings about medicated & unmedicated
births & the differences in the babies.  My hospital has about a 90% epidural
rate, so when we get a baby of an unmedicated birth, the nurses consider it
to be a "fussy" baby & wonder if there is something wrong with it!  We have
recently gone to Mother/Baby care, without much of a central nursery (we
still have a holding bay that will hold 4 or 5 babies at a time, with a 19
bed maternity floor).  Everyone worried about leaving the babies to the
mother's care & the nurses being overworked, but since most of our newborns
sleep for the first 24 hours, then the boys are held NPO for circs, then
snooze for another 4 - 5 hours, neither mother nor nurse has much care to do.
 Unfortunately, with early discharge, not much breastfeeding gets observed
either.  We're just about to start the LATCH assessment.  I'll let you know
what happens.
     Lastly, I've heard one theory on nursing & risk of miscarriage that the
body is only bothered by a change in oxytocin release, so unless something
increases it significantly from what it's used to, continued nursing
shouldn't be a major factor.
                                                Katie Winchell, BS, IBCLC
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                         Where the mountains are beautiful right now,
                               but a hard freeze is expected tonight