I have a client who despite really wanting to breast feed and going through months of hell with problems, sleep deprivation and hoards of conflicting, formulized 'help' she has decided to comp feed. Many will gasp at that but baby is happy and sleeping, mother is not stuck on the couch 24/7 crying in pain and frustration and the whole family is happy again. It is interesting as this woman had a wonderful natural birth and was shocked to find that breast feeding naturally was not an obvious follow on.
I was one of the lucky ones who did just put babe on the boob and had no problems what so ever! The only issue I had was the emotional pressure of being the only source of nutrients for baby (drug induced hysteria after a cs! Ha ha!) I really felt for this woman however as she wanted so desperately to make her care providers proud by being able to breast feed, and yet this added to her problems. It is interesting how some of the most wonderfully supportive midwives I know and adore have been referred to half jokingly by some as 'Tit Nazis'. Breast feeding can cause greater heated debates than elective cs I have found! :o) Cheers Jo -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Denise Fisher Sent: Thursday, May 19, 2005 9:53 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [ozmidwifery] Breastfeeding Breastfeeding doesn't often come up on this list, but when it does it causes heated discussions - I don't understand why as a very reasonable advocate of the normal, healthy way to feed a baby I feel so threatened each time I post. :-\ Does having a normal birth, followed by a normal breastfeeding relationship make a woman a better mother?? I wouldn't be surprised if, when big numbers are crunched, that that is what statistically comes out of the computer, while also accepting that you can't apply statistics to individuals. Whether we like it or not we are driven by hormones over which we have no control - all of our loving relationships are heavily influenced by the hormones that are floating around us at the time. That's why normal birthing is so important (read Michel Odent, plus heaps of others now), and why breastfeeding is also incredibly important to the ability to mother and form secure attachments. Please don't get personally slighted over that statement - I'm not saying that all is lost for the mother and baby who don't experience normal - but when you're starting from the abnormal, it takes greater effort to get everything back to normal. Denise Hynd's support for normal birthing to ultimately support breastfeeding is definitely addressing one of the barriers to successful breastfeeding. However, there are still a lot of midwives and doctors who set the mother up for failure of breastfeeding because of mismanagement, despite their wonderful birth experience. Lieve will support me when I mention the very, very poor breastfeeding rates in The Netherlands despite home birthing. It's not a natural follow-on - it's another essential skill that a good midwife must learn about and acquire and then share with her clients. Yes there are barriers to breastfeeding that are beyond our immediate control, but one of the biggest barriers is the uneducated health professional. We're improving, and because of that I feel that some of the social barriers are being knocked down by confidently breastfeeding mothers - more women breastfeed in public without giving it a second thought; more mothers seek a place to pump at work, or lobby for closer childcare. It's happening, but only because these women start out with self-confidence, and that's where the assumption of breastfeeding as normal, and facilitating normal establishment of breastfeeding by knowledgeable midwives is the key. Self-confidence in an ability to birth naturally is just as important as self-confidence to feed their baby naturally. Introducing doubt needlessly to either process destroys self-confidence. Denise *************************************** Denise Fisher Health e-Learning http://www.health-e-learning.com [EMAIL PROTECTED] **************************************** -- This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe. -- Internal Virus Database is out-of-date. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.308 / Virus Database: 266.11.8 - Release Date: 5/10/2005 -- Internal Virus Database is out-of-date. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.322 / Virus Database: 266.11.0 - Release Date: 4/29/2005 -- This mailing list is sponsored by ACE Graphics. Visit <http://www.acegraphics.com.au> to subscribe or unsubscribe.
