Dr Lisa Masterson gives bad advice again!

[Mamapits]

I never ever watch "The Doctors" but I was flipping through and I saw a beautiful woman having contractions so I stopped to watch. It turned out to be the producers wife. After the footage she came on the show with the baby and said that she had some pain while breastfeeding and asked Dr Masterson for some advice. Well Dr's response was " It's normal, just stick it out, your nipples will toughen up, they will become callous and it will get better"

WTF????????????????????????????????????

I cannot find any video on it to show you all. did anyone else see it? How is this show allowed to go on with such poor advice?
I am thinking about writing the show to let them know what the correct answer should have been. Or maybe make some prominent breastfeeding groups aware of her false medical advice. Any suggestions on how to put the pressure on the show to get them to stop being so mis informative????

[rivkah]

I actually think this is good advice. I think many, many women experience nipple pain at first that pretty much goes away once their nipples toughen up. Certainly my experience. I guess she could have added something about making sure latch is good and there is not a tongue-tied issue...

[crunchy_mommy]

That was my thought as well... Sticking it out worked for me....

But she definitely should've added something about consulting a LC to ensure baby had a proper latch etc.

[Mamapits]

I have never heard before this show and this thread that it is normal for breastfeeding to be painful.

Is it painful sometimes?? I am sure for some it is, but normal?

I nursed a child for 3 years and never experienced any pain, though we had latch issues the first week and I had some discomfort with engorgement. My nipples also never became tough, they were just my nipples. I never asked other women about the condition of their nipples so maybe for some women they do callous, but that is news to me.

The only time before today that I ever heard a woman say it was painful was because there was a problem, (mastitis, thrush)

I believe that after 1 month of nursing, the good Dr should have said something like
"lets get you to an LC or some other breastfeeding specialist so we can rule out any problems"

Not " pain during breastfeeding is normal, tough it out"

[annettemarie]

Yes, it can absolutely be normal. I've actually often thought we do women a grave diservice when we don't tell them breastfeeding can be painful in the first few weeks, because then they freak out and assume something is terribly wrong. When you have a little person sucking on a part of your body 24/7, you can experience some discomfort as your body gets used to things.

[Quaniliaz]

While some pain while adjusting can be normal - women don't form callouses on their nipples, do they? (ew.) With my second, nursing was painful, in spite of a beautiful-looking latch. Happily, I knew it didn't have to be that way - went to a cranio-sacral therapist, and everything felt all better!

"Pain is normal while breastfeeding" is not the complete picture.

[annettemarie]

Yeah, the callous part was weird. But you do kind of "toughen up" and get used to things.

[Mamapits]

I agree that it can be uncomfortable - but painful???

really this is the first time I have ever heard women say that breastfeeding is painful.

Yes I found that I had some discomfort. I had discomfort when I was pregnant, I had discomfort nursing, I had discomfort carrying my baby everywhere I went. Yes I agree that women need to know the challenges that lay ahead of them and that it is not always easy. and no one should sugar coat it or pretend that it is something it is not or that the love makes it all better just like that.

I am a doula and also working on my CBE certification so this could be an education for me. Up til now I tell women that breastfeeding doesn't hurt and if it does please find a qualified LC

[annettemarie]

Yes, it can be (not will be, but can be) painful, even if you're doing everything right.

[Mamapits]

Originally Posted by Quaniliaz

While some pain while adjusting can be normal - women don't form callouses on their nipples, do they? (ew.) With my second, nursing was painful, in spite of a beautiful-looking latch. Happily, I knew it didn't have to be that way - went to a cranio-sacral therapist, and everything felt all better!

"Pain is normal while breastfeeding" is not the complete picture.

so the baby got cranial sacral therapy???

[SilverFish]

+1 on the idea that breastfeeding can be painful. i agree it's really important to seek help if there IS pain, but i also firmly believe that there can be pain and nothing wrong (or nothing fixable). that is what i experienced. i had a preemie, and thrush, but once the thrush was fixed, and i'd finally gotten her to latch on, we just needed to wait out the discomfort... i have sensitive nipples anyway, and having a premature baby who needed to "grow" into her latch, as it were, things were pretty yucky for a fairly long while. if i'd believed what they said about breastfeeding being painless, i would have been SO frustrated with the whole process.

i agree that she probably should have at least mentioned going to an LC to rule out any causes of the pain.

[Mom2M]

It was toe curling, teeth clenchingly painful for me when breastfeeding DD1!
I wish I had known that it could be, I felt like a complete failure at breastfeeding until we finally got it together after 8 long weeks. Inverted nipples and engorgement combined with a sleepy 6 pound baby led to bleeding and pain that was so bad I wanted to use that stupid can of formula that I got in the mail!
I'm so glad DD2 was a snap!

[mambera]

Same here. Toe-curling, teeth-clenching pain for 4 weeks. Multiple checks of latch by 3 different LCs. Latch fine. Pain lessened over weeks 5 and 6 and was totally gone by week 7 or 8.

I really do think it is inappropriate when lactivists mouth this line about how there shouldn't be pain unless something is wrong. Of course latch etc. should be checked but it can really drive you crazy to be repeatedly told that 'pain means a bad latch' and simultaneously that 'your latch is just fine.'

[crunchy_mommy]

Well I STILL have pain on & off (though nowhere near as bad as the beginning) and my DS is 17mos old... I attribute my pain to the frequency of his nursing... When he is sucking literally around the clock (several times an hour, still, even at this age), it doesn't matter how good his latch is (and admittedly, it's not always good), it HURTS. For me it's like... hmm like you could hold an ice cube for a second and it's just uncomfortable but after a minute or two it's painful.

[mommaklo]

I did have some pain when I first started nursing ds. He wanted to eat every hour and it felt like I didnt get time to recoup before each feeding and they were almost irritated. I know he had a good latch and would pop him off and relatch if I thought it wasnt ok. A friend of mine said hers hurt for the first 6 weeks until she got used to it.
But I have a friend that has been using one of the silicon nipple shields they give you in the hospital since her LO was born in may and says that her nipples hurt every time. She even pumps now, not sure how often but I've seen multiple people give that baby a bottle by now. She actually told me she has nipples too sensitive to be touched even prebaby. I dont think shes doing it wrong, just pain registers different to different people.
Dont think thats bad advice, but yea, she should have mentioned an LC for the viewers if not for the woman herself. Im not a huge fan of that show, so gimmicky. I do like the Sears family though.

Wife to Dh of my life, mommy to ds 3/10 Im my

[LauraN]

Posted via Mobile Device

[Mamapits]

Learning all of the time!

Good information

I still stick with that the show should have mentioned getting support to rule out any thing that might have been causing her pain but have changed my stance on breastfeeding doesn't hurt.
It didn't hurt me but obviously from your responses it can and does for some.

[KristyDi]

Originally Posted by Mamapits

I agree that it can be uncomfortable - but painful???

really this is the first time I have ever heard women say that breastfeeding is painful.

Yeah, I have a pretty high pain tolerance and for about 2 week nursing hurt like %$&#. Her latch was fine, but I still got scabs on both nipples. No visible wounds, just a few pinprick sized areas where blood was drawn that scabbed. A little expressed milk allowed to dry on the scabs, then lanolin and they healed up fine and it's been smooth sailing since.

It hurt pretty badly for a few seconds right after she latched, then dulled down into an ache while she nursed.

[rivkah]

Originally Posted by crunchy_mommy

Well I STILL have pain on & off (though nowhere near as bad as the beginning) and my DS is 17mos old... I attribute my pain to the frequency of his nursing... When he is sucking literally around the clock (several times an hour, still, even at this age), it doesn't matter how good his latch is (and admittedly, it's not always good), it HURTS. For me it's like... hmm like you could hold an ice cube for a second and it's just uncomfortable but after a minute or two it's painful.

I have to chime in with my experience. #1 very painful. Bleeding nipples, toe-curling. Lasted 6 weeks. Nothing wrong, just nipples that hadn't been "used" before. #2, born right after #1 weaned. Everything went great. No pain ever. Ten long years later, #3 caused a bit of toe-curling pain, a bit of bleeding, but it was all good after about 2 weeks. But she is 13 months, and sometimes she causes me pain if she nurses around the clock. Not toe-curling, but kind of like my nipples are worn OUT kind of pain.

I agree that we do a disservice to paint a rosy picture, because then when it doesn't run out that way, women think there is something wrong and decide they "weren't able" to breastfeed.

[laohaire]

Well, I think the best answer is: "Hmm, let's check your latch. Position looks good, latch looks good. Swallows per suck seems good. This seems like normal adjustment - many women do report some discomfort or pain while establishing breastfeeding, but it typically resolves within 2 weeks. Some women like to use Lansinoh on their nipples, though not everyone likes it - would you like to try some?"

Not just dismissive "it's normal."