Barbara wrote:

> "Normal" is when a baby goes right to breast and breastfeeds without too
> much fuss.  That's how mammalian biology works when all is well.  However,
> birth can be perilous, and some mammals of all species will die during
> birth.  Many pups, kits and calves (esp. the runts) will die as the result
> of birth trauma or because they are dysfunctional feeders.  With skilled
> birth attendants (good vets, good midwives, good OBs), more mammal mothers
> survive birth.  With skilled postpartum attendants, more mammal babies
> survive the (usually temporary) feeding dysfunctions that would otherwise
> prove fatal.
>
> But being soothing is not enough in the Not Normal situation. You have to
be
> soothing AND technically very expert in terms of assessing the problem.

I have cut much of Barbara's post, and would say I agree with most of her
points. When I started helping mothers with breastfeeding many years ago,
most of the questions and challenges were pretty basic ones. Mothers who had
babies with more serious challenges - premature babies, babies with Down
syndrome, etc., for the most part didn't even consider breastfeeding. That's
changed. A greater awareness of the value of breastfeeding has led to more
mothers dealing with significant problems who still want to breastfeed, and
that requires far more knowledge on the part of the person helping them.

One thing I learned from Dr. Jack is that we often give up too soon. If the
mother can keep up her milk supply (or re-build her milk supply) and we can
keep offering the baby the breast in different ways, eventually it works. We
don't always know why it didn't work at first or why it suddenly starts
working six or eight or ten weeks down the road, but I've seen it happen
many times. I think the biological forces to make breastfeeding succeed are
pretty powerful and they will assert themselves if given a chance.

Teresa Pitman
Guelph, Ontario

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

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