June's interesting post about the baby with the very wide cleft and the very
determined mother reminded me of a question I've been meaning to ask.

Often I've read poster on LN who have -- unlike me -- worked with these
babies say that they cannot transfer much milk because the cleft makes it
impossible for them to maintain negative pressure.

However, equally often but in different contexts I've read -- and I myself
believe -- that negative pressure is the least important of the three forces
that transfer milk, falling well behind both positive pressure from
compression and positive pressure from MER.   My understanding is that the
most important function of suction is to hold the breast in well-latched
position.

So, is that not quite right, or if it is right, could these babies transfer
milk despite lack of suction if someone can/could position the breast in
their mouth in a way that lets them maintain their suckle?

Again, I am assuming that human milk in the nasal sinus is not a terrible
thing, though I have no sense at all for whether it would mess up the
swallowing mechanism.  Is the swallowing mechanism one piece that I am not
thinking about adequately?

Someone with more anatomy than me, please help me understand how these
defects interact with the normal suck(le), swallow, breath process.

Thanks!

Elisheva

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