After my high of reading Baby Blues before I went off to the hospital to make
rounds -- I came a-crashing down.  First room -- new mom of 18.  She
delivered last night around 9:00.  So I asked her how breastfeeding is going.  "Well,
I'm having trouble.  I tried once last night in the delivery room, but the
nurse told me my nipples were no good for breastfeeding because they don't stay
erect.  So I just left the baby in the nursery last night so I could get some
sleep."

Now perhaps the nurse didn't say EXACTLY that.  But that is what the mom
HEARD her say.  She's 18, and has been told that her nipples "aren't good enough."
 Do you think ANYTHING I say is going to make any difference at all?  Not a
chance.  We can only pray that her baby will start to latch today and SHOW her
that her nipples are wonderful.

Next mom, same room.  This is a second time mom who did fine for 2 months w/
her first baby, but who thinks her milk supply faltered at that point so
started giving formula.  HER report from the night nurse:  "Well, the baby has lost
SO MUCH WEIGHT (he was 9-8 to begin with, and is now down to 8-11) that if he
loses ONE MORE OUNCE we are going to have to start supplementing
immediately."  Mom now knows that yet again she doesn't have enough milk.

Next mom:  She's engorged.  We use cabbage on our unit -- I asked her if she
had used it according to my handout.  "Yes, I used it but it didn't do any
good."  "Oh, how long did you leave it on?"  "Only 5 minutes because the nurse
told me it would dry up my milk if I left it any longer than that."

OK -- time for me to go live in the world of comics and forget this lactation
stuff in the real world.

And we wonder why there is "breastfeeding failure????"

In the dumps in Wheaton,

Jan

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