>Mother is nursing on the affected side in the cradle hold at
>every feeding and at least every other feeding on the
>unaffected <snip>I explained to her different was of nursing the baby
"upside
>down," either on all fours over baby with baby's feet below
>her shoulder or on her side with baby's feet above her
>head.  She said for his lower jaw to be in line with the
>hard spot, he would have to be upside down.
>
At the risk of asking the obvious, Bonnie, I assume you have been with this
mother throughout a whole feeding episode?  And that you are satisfied that
the attachment of the baby to the breast -- and the positioning of the baby
in the mother's arms and the positioning of the mother (the way she is
sitting, the chair, etc) -- is as good as you and she can make it???

Since we know that many -- guesstimates are at least 50% -- cases of
mastitis are obstructive mastitis, not infectious, and we know that cases of
infectious mastitis can start as obstructive mastitis and procede to
infection, I guess this is where I think you would have to start.  As this
mother breastfed an older child, maybe when the second one was born she
never went back to the scrupulous attention to attachment often needed for
newborns.  When you do something for 4 years, you think you know what you
are doing, but doing it with a new baby -- who has not had any experience --
is different.  If one part of the breast is consistently involved, sounds
like there is something that could be improved with the drainage.  (And
hey -- do me a favour and ask about her bra).

Magda Sachs
Breastfeedign Supporter, BfN, UK

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