[blparent] Breast-Feeding

[Judy Jones]

I know this may be a sweeping generalization, but lactation consultants are 
coming at problem-solving through medical training, rather than coming at it 
through mentoring and personal experience.

Judy


-----Original Message----- 
From: Briley O'Connor via BlParent
Sent: Saturday, January 23, 2016 11:28 AM
To: Blind Parents Mailing List
Cc: Briley O'Connor
Subject: Re: [blparent] Breast-Feeding

Hi there! Congratulations on your new baby! I know from personal experience 
how difficult breast-feeding can be. I had a myriad of issues, some with 
latch. It is hard to explain my problem-solving techniques in writing, but I 
am more than happy to get on the phone with you and help if I can. It is 
good that you are reaching out for help and not stopping breast-feeding 
because it really is best for our babies if possible. Lactation consultant 
are good, but sometimes, even though your issues aren't directly related to 
your vision, they get a little stressed. I am blessed to have found someone 
that was willing to work through it with me. Write me off list if you're 
interested and we can exchange numbers.

Sent from my iPhone

> On Jan 22, 2016, at 10:37 PM, Allison via BlParent <blparent at nfbnet.org> 
> wrote:
>
> 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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