Lindsey, 

Good for you for asking these questions on this list!  The most important
thing you can do early on is to LISTEN and WATCH the mother and baby. Sit
quietly near her, with your head lower than hers. Listen to her entire birth
story - all of it, beginning to end, without evaluating or judging what
happened. It's HER birth story.

Observe at least one full breastfeeding session, and chart it somehow. Then
ask the mother how SHE thinks it went. Point out all the good stuff she and
the baby are doing. If BF is painful, help her re-position the baby more
deeply on the breast. 

If she has questions, answer them as briefly and accurately and positively
as possible. Mothers in the early postpartum period are running on
highly-charged emotions, not on brains. Long scientific explanations are not
what's needed at this point. 

Arrange to come back or at least call the next day to see how she's doing.
Checking up on her daily or every 2-3 days is FABULOUSLY important support
and far more important that just about anything else you could do. 

Linda J. Smith, BSE, FACCE, IBCLC
Bright Future Lactation Resource Centre Ltd.
6540 Cedarview Ct, Dayton OH 45459 USA
(937) 937-438-9458 / fax (937) 438-3229
www.BFLRC.com

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

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
Mail all commands to [log in to unmask]
To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail
To start it again: set lactnet mail (or [log in to unmask])
To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet or ([log in to unmask])
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]