Masochistic Mommy

When a baby is born early, breastfeeding is arguably the most important thing a mother can do to facilitate survival. Breast milk will help the baby’s vulnerable tummy to mature and fight infection. It is also much easier for the baby's immature stomach to digest than formula. Further, it contains hormones and growth factors that help the baby grow and become stronger. Suffice to say it is therefore of paramount importance that mothers of premature babies are supported to breastfeed. Yet many hospital routines make it difficult for mothers and premature babies to breastfeed successfully. One reason is that many of the ‘techniques’ used to save the lives of premature babies were developed during the 1960’s and 1970’s when breastmilk, never mind breastfeeding, really wasn’t a priority in neonatal intensive care units (NICU’s). Unfortunately, despite much about what we have learned since that time, NICU’s seem to be, in general, with some exceptions of course, resistant to change. Eve...

I want to share with you a fascinating and empowering story of nature. You are about to discover the emperor moth’s secret... One day a biologist found the cocoon of an emperor moth and took it into his lab for study. It sat on his lab table for quite a while. Finally the cocoon began to tremble as the moth made its efforts to get out into the world. The scientist noticed that the cocoon was shaped like a bottle, wide at the bottom but very narrow at the top. The top was made of a concrete-like substance. The scientist thought, ‘There's no way the moth will make it through that hard material’. He watched anxiously as the tiny head chewed its way into the light of the laboratory.  The moth struggled and struggled, seemingly getting nowhere. Its body was simply too large to fit through the tiny hole in the cocoon. The moth looked tired and laid its head to rest on the shell of the cocoon. The scientist decided to help the moth out. So he took a tiny pair of scissors and carefully cut...

In general, a baby who won’t nurse, can’t nurse. As a parent, your goal is to identify why baby can’t nurse and either remedy the problem, work around the problem, and/or preserve your milk supply until the problem remedies itself ( Kellymom 2011 ). But what if you have health professionals breathing down your neck, firing comments at you that suggest your baby is starving, that you must have postpartum depression, and that formula is necessary? You are about to read the story of how one mother unlocked the secret as to why her baby was refusing to nurse, all whilst under a torrent of bullying from health professionals and family members. “My son was born by ‘emergency’ caesarean after induction at 42 weeks, I say ‘emergency’ as I have since discovered the reason was rather dubious (I was at full dilation and pushing, they said my son was in distress - apgar of 9 indicates he wasn't) but I digress. In recovery I was helped to give him his first breastfeed, well the midwife held him...

A little while ago I posted an article titled, ‘ It’s Just Baby Fat ’, in which I ridiculed a grotesque toy doll that came armed with a toy bottle. I linked the baby’s obese frame with the suggestion that it was formula fed.  The response to this post was overwhelmingly one of contemptuous anger (really? One of my posts?! Never!) Likewise, this mock health advertisement which I posted on The Alpha Parent Facebook page was greeted with similar disdain: So I’d like to add some facts and stats to support my ‘formula fed babies as fatties’ stance: Here's the deal: during the first 6 to 8 weeks of life there is little difference in growth (gain in weight and length) between breast- and formula-fed babies. However, from about 2 months of age formula-fed infants gain weight and length more rapidly than breast-fed infants ( Ziegler 2006 ;  Singhal 2007 ; Rebhan 2009 ;  Larnkjaer et al 2009 ;  Durmuş et al 2011 ;  Rose et al 2012 ). Numerous studies have shown that by t...

Once commonplace, an experienced breastfeeding mother is now a rare commodity. This is a great shame as there is much we can learn from the veteran breastfeeder. Contrary to common assumption, most experienced breastfeeding mothers have not had it ‘lucky’. Rather, their success is a product of persistence, dedication, bravery and stamina. This week’s triumphant mom had three babies, all exclusively breastfed, all self-weaned. She endured traumatic births, judgemental relatives, formula pushing medical staff, mastitis, having to pump during office meetings, a jaundiced baby, a dairy intolerant baby, and a lip-tied baby. She is now a lactation consultant. This is her story. “ I had my first son when I was 21. It was a traumatic birth (all natural, just a little stuck and in stress) and he ended up in the NICU for 3 days. Being a young, first time mom, I had said I would "try" to breastfeed. The NICU staff only let me in every 3 hours to feed my baby and provided me with a pum...