Jessica asked about the "lesser of two evils" in her situation where there
is a high intervention rate. Of course she's frustrated that "nobody seems
interested."

My response: Been There, Done That, Got the T-shirt.

Keep telling the truth. And keep teaching non-pharmaceutical pain relief,
even if you're the only one on your block (or hospital or city or state)
that is doing so. The fact that "All labor drugs get to the baby" will not
go away.

I think we lactation folks may be able to do a LOT of good in this arena
because we often pick up the pieces after a highly-medicated birth. Keep
documenting these situations. Take a good history of birth practices and
medications for EVERY baby, but especially those otherwise normal babies who
are having a tough time getting started breastfeeding. And write up your
observations - as case reports, presentations at lactation meetings, etc.
Above all, keep talking about it.

My fantasy is that we could videotape about 10 "epidural babies" who start
to latch, then STOP. Then we gather a group of expert neurologists, physical
or speech therapists, respiratory therapists, etc and have them analyze why
these full-term, otherwise healthy and normal kids can't suck, and come up
with some kind of explanations that would then lead to some good research on
the subject.

Linda J. Smith, BSE, FACCE, IBCLC
Bright Future Lactation Resource Centre
Dayton, OH USA
http://www.bflrc.com

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