Induced births = asking for trouble with breastfeeding? - Page 3

[SparklingGemini]

Originally Posted by ramama

I think it's likely that when a woman doesn't trust her body to give birth, she probably won't trust her body to nourish her child either. I think a defeatist attitude towards BFing will ensure that there are problems.

I just want to take a second to point out that not ALL inductions are medically unnecessary, and not all women choose them because they don't trust their bodies to deliver their baby. And while I don't necessarily agree with most birth interventions, this sort of generalization is the same concept we hear from the "other camp" and in our lactivism fight, we need to be conscientious to broaden our views and realize that not every situation is the same.

I was induced due to severe preeclampsia, which is life threatening, and the only "cure" is to deliver your baby.

Did I have trouble breastfeeding? Sure.

Was it because I was induced? Who knows.

Did I fight stubbornly to get my baby latched and refuse all supplements for her because I truly believe breastfeeding is naturally, normal and best? Yes.

Again, its really all about knowledge, education and SUPPORT.

[ramama]

Just in case people have problems reading the whole thread, I'll clarify my views here, so that people don't keep misconstruing the same post over and over and over again.

Originally Posted by ramama

I totally see where you're coming from. I should have been more specific. I think that when the women of a culture feel they cannot trust their bodies, that's when the difficulty rises. I didn't mean individual women, per se. When we look back about 50 years, when nearly all hospital births were done under twilight anesthesia, and the "new-fangled" formula products were being pushed on women, women in our culture did not have confidence in their ability to birth and nourish a baby.

Originally Posted by ramama

I don't think it's an individual woman's issue, as in if a certain woman has an intervention, that particular woman will have problems BFing. I think that low BFing rates can result from a interventionist culture. As in, if the cultural norm indicates that a woman "cannot" have a baby without painkillers, cannot trust her baby to come when it's ready, cannot depend on her body to deliver the baby in an "acceptable" timeframe, or cannot have vaginal births at all, then how are women in general to trust their ability of BF? I know there are instances where the body doesn't quite function normally, when childbirth goes wrong, or when interventions are necessary, but one intervention is not going to shake a woman's confidence as much as a lifetime of cultural pressure.

When a culture changes this way, think of all the folk wisdom that we lose! We no longer trust ourselves, or our mother, sisters, and aunts to teach us how to care for our babies. We look to doctors, quick fixes, and pills. I see it as a body-image and female empowerment issue. I don't take the OP in this thread to be a knock on those who had interventions.

I know I've said this all before in this thread, but I continue to be misquoted.

[carriebft]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/lif...cle6816361.ece

new study that just came out which looked at some drugs given during labor and which impede breastfeeding.

I think it come down to things like this-- we have data on this, but, like with any study like this, you are going to have cases that don't fit into what the study says. some people will get certain drugs and not have any issues, but we know that the risk is increased with getting those drugs.

[SparklingGemini]

Originally Posted by ramama

Just in case people have problems reading the whole thread, I'll clarify my views here, so that people don't keep misconstruing the same post over and over and over again.

Oh. I read the whole thread. Thank you.

Its just a gentle reminder, on whole, to everyone, that we need to choose our language carefully. Which I don't think was brought up yet. Perhaps I didn't clarify that very well but that's the point I was trying to get across.

[ramama]

Then I don't understand why you quoted my post. I never ever even came close to even remotely implying that all interventions are medically unnecessary, especially considering that I have already stated that BOTH of my DD's births were with interventions.

[natural_mama89]

I have not heard this, per say, but I do know that Pitocin (artificial oxytocin) inhibits production of the body's natural pitocin, and does have the same "love hormone" effect that natural oxytocin does. Oxytocin is a hormone crucial to breastfeeding, so it makes sense that depriving a woman of oxytocin in labor would have an effect on breastfeeding early on.