Gregory
by Barbara Dehn - 21st December 2007
With her first 3 children, my patient, Sarah, breastfed her children exclusively. She felt like a cow, because she had such an abundance of milk. In fact, when she had to return to work, she still pumped a quart each day! This, is in addition to the feedings she was able to do at home. Her freezer was overflowing with milk. Each of them was breastfed until they were at least 15 months old. Sarah said that she felt very little sympathy for other moms who were not able to breastfeed exclusively. She confessed to me that she was a little suspicious about their true commitment to their children. After all, she reasoned, if she could make more than enough milk and continue to work, then everyone should be able to do the same thing. Other friends of hers at work, Sarah confided, were just not as serious as she was about pumping and breastfeeding and that was why they had such difficulties. She shook her head as she described her reaction to women who just didn’t measure up to her experience.
After three beautiful baby girls, Sarah welcomed her adorable son, Gregory into the family. They brought back this blond, blue-eyed wonder and everyone made an incredible fuss over him. Breastfeeding her baby was a joy and so easy, just like the first 3 daughters. Things went smoothly, until he was about eight weeks old and then the inexplicable occurred. Sarah’s milk supply decreased dramatically. Testing and visits to lactation consultants proved fruitless. Nothing Sarah did increased her supply. Gone were the days of rivers of breast milk filling up her freezer. No more quart per day pumping sessions. What happened, she asked herself over and over? Why could she not produce enough milk for her baby? This couldn’t be happening to her, and yet it did. And no amount of intervention worked. What could she do? She had to feed her baby, so she did the only logical thing, and used formula.
Sarah told me this because she said, that if she herself had not experienced difficulty, she would not have any sympathy for other moms who have challenges. She never understood the “other side” of the experience, believing that it was an easy, natural thing for all mothers and that there was no excuse for not exclusive breastfeeding. Sarah now feels that she can empathize more and understands that each woman has their own experience, no two are alike, and we are all trying our best to do what’s right for our babies and our children.
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