Did You Have Trouble Breastfeeding?
I work in Central Massachusetts seeing mother and babies every day. Most of them are a few days after delivery. Most of the babies are sleepy and most of the mothers are scared. Breastfeeding problems abound.
It was interesting listening to Suzanne Colson speak about the increase in breastfeeding problems since breastfeeding teaching was standarized. She quoted a 1985 study, which I don't have a link for. The number of latch problems have increased. Now we know that many variables influence this including the rise of labor interventions. But one does need to question what may be wrong with what we are teaching mothers.
Suzanne and I had our babies in the 80's when no one around us interferred with our instincts to breastfeed. We figured it out and so did our friends. One of my friends got mastitis and an abcess, but none of the rest of us had any problems other than some transient nipple soreness. And the friend with the abcess? She was scheduling the feeds every four hours and 8-12 hours at night. Hmmm... duh!
When I tell mothers I want them to be comfortable they are shocked. Really? But the ______ told me to do this and she told me to do this and she told me this. And the website said this and the forum said this. And the support group said this. Oh dear. A pediatrician sent someone yesterday and told her she needed one person helping her figure things out, not ten. Go see Debbie. Thank you Dr. Howard.
One client recently told me that someone told her not to use her breastfeeding pillow because the baby wasn't old enough yet. "Use these soft pillows under your arms for the first few days." Don't even get me started on pillows. How many problems I see related to breastfeeding pillows. Especially the experienced mother with her second baby who was told she HAD to use a pillow! "But I didn't use a pillow with my first baby." Inventions are not necessarily necessary.
But, back to the orignal thought. Breastfeeding problems abound. Why? Why did you have problems? Can you put your finger on any one thing? I'm doing an informal study to look at breastfeeding problems with a first baby. If you had any problems breastfeeding, please consider taking this survey and passing it on to your friends.