Telephone and informal consultations

I frequently talk to mothers on the telephone, and do not make a charge for short, informal discussions. My aim is not to give direction, but to offer support and evidence-based information, so the mother can choose how to proceed. (This is often interpreted as advice!) This feedback came after I had spoken with the neighbour of a family member who was having some difficulty:

Just wanted to thank you for all your helpful advice. H is now feeding well and thriving. You advice was extremely useful and made all the difference in those first few days. Thank you so much. J 

A friend asked me to speak with someone who had a breast abscess:

May I thank you for your most helpful advice regarding my breast abscess. I am delighted to say how much better I felt after talking to you. Zoe is feeding well and I am attending the breast clinic as a precaution to ensure my condition is fully rectified. I cannot begin to say how much I appreciated your care in my desperate hour! Best wishes, HM

This came from a neighbour of mine, after we had chatted in the street and I heard that she was considering stopping breastfeeding. I offered her some information over coffee and this was her response: she later told me that she had chosen to continue feeding for another few months.

Thank you for taking the time out to speak to me. It has made me think more about what I am going to do! Thank you for all the information etc. With thanks, K (2006)

I helped this next mum and baby as friends, as I know them through my church links in Aldershot: 

Alison was an oustanding support to me when I breastfed my two boys. She has a gently encouraging approach and an ability to apply her vast technical knowledge with great aplomb. WIth my first, Luke, I suffered from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and so was in a very wobbly place. Alison helped me find my feet with the feeding and mentored me so that I kept going, even when I had lost confidence in my abilities as a mother. She also cheered me up, through her good humour and practical help. When Luke was 2.5, Rohan was born and she was again invaluable. I felt that she empowered me and she reinforced my strength and confidence and renewed my determination to breastfeed. I also felt inspired by her to feed Rohan for longer than I was able to with Luke. Overall, I heartily commend her services to you  - an invaluable investment you'll never regret!  JH, Aldershot (April 2008)

This mother had been struggling for several weeks:

Alison came to see me and my baby, Dom, at 8 weeks as we had the following problems: Dom had difficulty latching, possibly due to a tongue-tie and being a bit “squashed” during his birth. In addition I had enlarged nipples which made latching difficult anyway!!

Alison gave me lots of helpful advice and suggestions. She suggested that I use a larger pump size for my expressing pump to reduce discomfort around the nipple area, and showed me how to get my let-down reflex first to help with increasing the amount I expressed each time. She also discussed using “reverse pressure” softening to help make my breast easier for Dom to attach to.

Alison also suggested trying different positions for breastfeeding - she helped me to latch Dom (well helped him to self-latch!) and then gave helpful feedback about positioning, relaxation and when Dom was most comfortable. At that session Dom had his first full feed from me, rather than a bottle!

Other helpful suggestions included watching videos about latching for ideas on positioning, as well as co-bathing and “baby-mooning” - lots of close holding and skin-to-skin contact to help relaxing (me) and give Dom opportunities to feed as often as he wants to. 

The outcome is that Dom is now 8 months and has been successfully breastfeeding since about 9 weeks of age. It was an emotional rollercoaster, but well worth it for the special closeness we can still share together, even though he is having solids now as well.

Alison, thank you so much for your time and good advice. Judy and Dom (July 2008)

Discussions with breastfeeding supporters

I feel priviliged to be part of a Yahoo discussion group, and frequently ask for advice from colleagues. Sometimes I can give useful information based on my own experiences, as this email shows:

Some weeks ago you very kindly replied to me off list from our chat group about a mum who was experiencing deep breast pain which carried on after she had finished feeding her baby. You encouraged me to look again at the position of the baby and how deeply she was attaching.    

I just wanted to say how much I appreciated your help and so did the mum. After I got your email R and I had a really good think about this. The baby has some kind of stiffness in her neck which means that she had her head almost always looking to the right. This was clearly affecting her ability to breastfeed, especially on the left breast, and this seems to be the root of the problem. 

The baby has had some cranial osteopathy, which helped a bit, and I suggested that R speak to her GP to get a referral to the paediatric physio, but she choose not to do this.  Even now at 4 months the baby still favours turning her head to the right, but as her mother doesn't complain, I don't feel it is my place to say any more that I have. Over the weeks and months, they have worked out a way of feeding that works for them and is more comfortable, but still not completely pain free all the time.  It seems that R supports the side of her baby's face and jaw and allows the bottom shoulder to be slightly turned away from her. This works for them and they are a very happy pair.  AD, breastfeeding supporter and IBCLC (March 08)