Pam
I am hands on. Not to the extreme, but moms who need my help are just not
getting it. The babes are losing weight, becomine jaundiced, nipples sore,
the baby is nipple sucking or just barely mouthing it and the moms think the
babes are 'feeding.' I do alot of explaining about the positioning and the
latch being a secure attachment, the head extended, a bit off center rather
than bullseye on the nipple, etc. It is great to be hands off when you can,
and today I gave a little positioning help and basically allowed baby to
self attach and it worked great. These parents were very appreciative and
mom said "I couldn't have done this w/o you."
But with another dyad it was alot of hands on. Never did get a good feeding
and bub was over 24 hrs old, needed to start expressing etc. I wish it were
that easy, placing them STS, but I just don't see it working. Perhaps in my
population there is just too much mother baby separation, bottles used, etc
for this to work in most cases.
A rant and possibly related: I simply cannot figure out what will make the
bf thing work in today's society! I see many many moms who state they really
want to bf. I am beginning to ask them to give me a number 1-10 how much do
you want to bf. This I am asking of mothers who say they do, but haven't or
won't start putting baby to breast. Today a mom stated 8 whcih was quite
high, which surprised me because she's been bottling. I asked if baby was bf
great would you still want to give formula and she said yes. We talked about
this and options. Mom had just gave a bottle, and says she'll call me to
assist her next feed. later I returned. Mom says I've decided to just
formula feed, we tried, and baby didn't latch, but I didn't call you. What
can you do with this?
I also have many moms who receive advice and encouragement, and I go to
great lengths to get them a hospital grade pump, advising them to express
due to certain problems. Many moms do not follow thru with expressing, some
wait days to begin. Sorry, I don't get it folks, over these many years I
have tried many different approaches, I know about social marketing etc. I
don't think it's me, I know there are barriers and culture, etc., but final
decision is the mom.
Laurie Wheeler, IBCLC, MN, RN
Mississippi, s.e. USA
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