[blparent] Breast-Feeding

Sat Jan 23 18:25:16 UTC 2016

Hi, Allison, one other thing I remembered.  You might also get in touch with 
your local La Leche League.  I didn't, but I've heard they've got more 
experience dealing with clients who have disabilities than individual 
lactation consultants do.  I've proofread a couple of La Leche League 
pamphlets on the etiquette of dealing with moms who have disabilities. 
Personally, I hate that, etiquette.  It's common sense.  But anyway, look up 
La Leche League where you live, and see what you find.  They have meetings, 
which might also get you out and about, and put you in some social circles 
with other new moms--can't hurt--and those chicks know more about how to 
solve nursing problems than anyone.  Best of luck, and whatever you do, no 
guilt.  None.  It's not your fault, and zillions of women have these 
problems, blind and sighted.  If you don't believe me, Google it.  It's all 
over the Internet.  Some of those lactation consultants can heap on the 
guilt, and as a new mom you can heap it on yourself, but don't take on a 
drop of it.  You want the best for your baby, and that's all that matters in 
the end.

Jo Elizabeth

"The Bright Side of Darkness"
is my newly published novel,
available in Kindle, audio, and paperback formats at Amazon.com.
-----Original Message----- 
From: Wendy Meuse via BlParent
Sent: Saturday, January 23, 2016 8:44 AM
To: Blind Parents Mailing List
Cc: Wendy Meuse
Subject: Re: [blparent] Breast-Feeding

First of all congratulations Alison.  I was wondering when that beautiful 
girl was going to make an appearance.  One thing i found
that helped was a nursing pillow.  Have you tried that?  It kind of goes 
around your waiste and holds the baby in a more comfortable
position.  Maybe then you would find it easier just to use your pointy 
finger to gently put your nippil in her mouth.  Just an idea.
I hope that you will get some useful ideas on here.
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Allison via BlParent" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
To: "'Blind Parents Mailing List'" <blparent at nfbnet.org>
Cc: "Allison" <allison82 at cox.net>
Sent: Friday, January 22, 2016 7:37 PM
Subject: [blparent] Breast-Feeding

Hi Everyone,

I feel a little ridiculous writing this post because what about
breast-feeding could possibly be visual? Except that I'm having a ton of
breast-feeding issues right now and I want to cover all of my bases in
trying to figure out what more I can do.

My daughter, Allyssa, was born on Jan 9. She is beautiful and wonderful! I
had her via C-section after a long attempt at standard delivery. She was 7lb
9oz and is healthy. We are having a terrible time getting her going with
breast-feeding however. I've tried nearly everything I can think of, and she
will not latch, or if she does, she will do so for only a few seconds at a
time. I've met with several lactation consultants both at the hospital and
since coming home. I feel like a lot of the latching techniques they try to
give require some sight to make work. If I explain to these folks why their
techniques may not work for us, the consultants seem puzzled and/or unsure
what to have me try next. Some of them are more open to alternatives than
others, but in the end, they simply don't know what to suggest because I'm
probably their first blind client.  And while I know a ton about blindness
and about alternative techniques, I know less about breast-feeding a
difficult latcher. This is my first child and this is Allyssa's first few
weeks in the world, so we're learning together.

I've tried the cradle hold most often, but also the football hold and a few
I just made up myself. Most of the breast-feeding consultants I talk with
expect me to hold the back of Allyssa's head with one hand and then grasp my
breast with the other. Then I'm supposed to use the latter hand to aim my
nipple towards her mouth. What I've found though is that if both my hands
are occupied on her head and on my breast, I can't easily aim anything. In
order to aim my breast, I feel like I need to locate Allyssa's mouth and
chin with the other hand. But since I don't have 3 hands, I can't then hold
my breast and baby's head at the same time. So I've tried abandoning the
breast-holding, but since my nipples are kind of flat, I'm not getting them
in the correct position to help Allyssa latch. Moreover, I've found that if
I use my one hand to place my nipple into Allyssa's mouth, I can get her to
latch, but a few of my fingers get in the way and accidentally cause Allyssa
to unlatch soon after. I've tried quickly moving my fingers away after
getting the nipple in her mouth, but that too is causing the latch to be
broken more times than not. I've tried having my husband help hold baby's
head so I have a hand freed up, but still my fingers that I use for aiming
seem to be interfering with Allyssa's ability to stay on my nipple.

I've also tried the laid back breast-feeding position numerous times, but
Allyssa has not figured out how to make that position work. It still seems
to require me to help her locate the nipple, and/or hold my breast at the
correct angle for her to get to it.

And given all of that, I'm running out of ideas. I realize that
breast-feeding may not be difficult for most blind women, but for me it has
been challenging. With my lack of experience, it's hard for me to know which
issues may be blindness specific, and which may not be at all. My guess is
that my issues may be caused by a combination of factors, with blindness
being one of them. That said, I've spent nearly two weeks assuming that
sight wasn't the issue, but perhaps there are some positioning tips I could
learn that might help us out.  I'm doing my research, putting in the needed
practice, and talking to various experts, and I'm still not quite getting
the hang of it. So I thought I'd write to this list and see what others
recommend.

Thanks,

Allison, Darrell, and 12-day-old Allyssa

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