22 - Wednesday, June 23, 1999 - North Shore News

that feeds

YOU know some
women are just born to
be mothers.

I pretty much knew I
wanted to be a mother, right
from the time 1 was old
enough to play with the dol-
lies that were standard issue
to any girl born in the 50s. I
had a few of these, shiny-
faced, rosy-cheeked cherubs
with chubby hands and feet
and eyes that miracutously
opened and shut.

By the time I was six most
of them had endured horrific
haircuts and the ravages of
one too Many winters spent
in the fort, but I gave them
the best of my innate mater-
nity, and I’m sure they appre-
ciated it.

Thank God I didn’t have
to breast-feed them.

Now I’m sure that La
Leche Leaguers are going to
jump all over me for this col-
umn, but I’m sorry, breast

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feeding is, unlike whar they
would have every new moth-
er believe, not for everyone.
Some of us just plain suck at
ir.

I was reminded of this the
other day while out fora
walk with my dogs. A doggie
park pal of mine brought her
new baby to the park for us
all to see. He was just six
weeks old and gorgeous to be
sure as he dozed in his pram
oblivious to the rest of the
world. Bue his mother was a
total mess. As soon as she
opened her mouth to say
hello, she burst into tears.

“Pm having a terrible
time with this breast-feeding
business,” she wailed, hug-
ging her arms to her chest. “I
love this baby, but he has a
voracious appetite, and he has
to nurse every two hours. My
nipples are all cracked and
bleeding and they hurt like
hell. I don’t know what to
do, it hurts so much when [
put hint on my breast that I
cry almost every time I feed
him.”

I could sce that this new
mother was exhausted.
Probably suffering a litle
post-partum depression too.
But | knew exactly what she

north shore news

reasi

you

was talking about with the
breast-feeding thing.

“Why don’t vou give
yourself'a break now and
then and give the baby a bot-
le?” I suggested, recalling
how this had helped me
when my children were
babies.

“Oh no, I couldn't do
thar,” she said, sobbing. “I'd
feel like such a failure as a
mother. Pve got to try and
hang in with the nursing,
that’s what all the experts
keep telling me. Don’t 2”

She looked tragic.

“That’s nonsense,” I
snapped, the hairs on my
neck bristling. “You have to
do what's best for you and
the baby, and you’re the only
one who can determine
that.”

J went through the same
deal. No one warned me how
incredibly painful breast-feed-
ing can be, And women are
not all born with the same
efficient delivery system for
mother’s milk.

Oh, I have friends who
only had to fook at a baby
and the milk would squirt
from their nipples half way
across the room (big
showoffs).

But some women have
ultra-sensitive nipples, that
do, in fact, crack and bleed in
the first few weeks of breast-
feeding and I can tell you, it
hurts like hell.

Some women have nipples
that are inverted, and require
special plastic adapters, which
makes breast-feeding really

See Breast page %

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Picnic on ice

SEVEN-year-old Emma Best recently had fun at Ice Sports North Shore, at a pic-
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GYMBORE