Lactation Education, part II

I saw a Law and Order SVU episode a few years ago about a young couple who were advised not to supplement with formula because it would supress lactation, and their baby starved to death. The lactation consultants on the episode were horrible--preachy, rigid, and bullying--and the message of the episode was that the whole "breast is best" thing can be taken too far. Now, when I watched this I was truly skeptical; I did not believe anyone would advocate against supplementation when a baby was truly hungry for nourishment. However, my own experiences with lactation have made me wonder.

The hospital I chose has five lactation consultants--as many as some of the bigger city hospitals--and I took a breastfeeding class there and had a consultant with me in the hospital as I nursed Betty (I have a prior post about that class). I did not really have a birth plan or care what kind of birth I had as long as we both survived and were healthy, but the one thing I really wanted to do was breastfeed. Nothing at all indicated I wouldn't be able to do this, and so I purchased a breast pump, shells, ice packs, all the gear you need.

After Betty seemed to breastfeed fine the first two days in the hospital, taking to it really quickly, I thought we were on the right path. The nurses were so supportive and were impressed by her "latch" and vigor. Then we brought her home. She seemed to scream a lot at night, which can be normal for babies, but we saw other problem signs, including a lack of soiled or wet diapers. Two days after returning home she still had that red "brick dust" of urate crystals in her diaper, diapers that were still dry. Friday night was my breaking point--something seemed wrong. She was growing frustrated with feeding, so I tried to pump some breast milk. After 10 minutes, still nothing was coming out. I realized that my baby was not getting anything to eat or drink.

I called a lactation consulatant at the hospital, who suggested herbs and Guiness and said, "Don't give her a bottle."

We brought her into the emergency clinic the next day, and the pediatrician weighed her. Now, all babies lose some of their birthweight in the hospital, but she had lost at the hospital and then some--she was nearly a full pound smaller than the 6.3 pounds she weighed at birth, down to 5.4 pounds. So the doctor gave her some formula, which she drank up in one sitting.

I felt both guilty and relieved when we gave her the formula. Finally, she was eating. But it would compromise my efforts to breastfeed, efforts already compromised by some defect in me that was not allowing me to produce enough milk for her. So I stepped up my efforts at increasing milk production, and it has been a challenge. This has included renting a hospital-grade breast pump, taking herbs and tinctures, trying to force an increasingly resistant baby to breastfeed at each feeding, and reading everything I can about increasing milk production. I even called the lactation consultants again, who could offer me little apart from herbs and constant pumping.

So far, nothing is really working, but I am going to keep trying and hoping. Every time I mix a bottle of formula I feel as though I'm cheating my daughter out of a healthy life. One of the nurses at the hospital pointed out that her breast-fed child may have been valedictorian of his class because his competition was bottle-fed. I failed to point out to her (though I should have) that I was bottle-fed and I had a PhD. Still, it's little consolation; I know breast milk is better for babies.

On Betty's last pediatrician visit, she had gained very well and was looking healthy and robust. She's wetting every diaper and I know she's getting the nourishment she needs. All good news, but I get the feeling the lactation consultants see me as a quitter. I won't be calling them again.