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| Georgia Hodges, Hobart midwife, attends HUG Your Baby Training with Jan Tedder in August, 2013. |
Georgia Hodges, a midwife in Hobart, Tasmania, is a
new Certified HUG Teacher. She shares one important way The HUG enhances the
care that she provides.
"I recently worked with enthusiastic first-time parents and their
four-day-old baby boy. They are eager to learn as much as they can while
staying at the hospital's maternity unit. Mum’s milk is in and her breasts feel
full.
It is their last night in the hospital and Mum is breastfeeding their baby boy
at 5:00 AM. The baby is fussing at the breast. Mum is holding him in a football hold, and Dad is helping by holding the baby’s
hand. Mum reports, “Breastfeeding has been going well. He has been waking
up; I breastfeed him and he goes back to sleep. But, this time it's different.
I attach him, he takes a couple of sucks but he keeps moving around and coming off
the breast.”
Mum tries attaching him again so that I can observe the baby's behavior. I see that
he is sucking a couple of times but keeps flailing his arm in all directions with
jerky movements; his breathing is irregular as he tries to latch on.
I explain to Mum that I had just attended a fantastic HUG conference on
Saturday and had learned some new techniques and strategies to help breastfeeding
babies. I take this opportunity to talk to both Mum and Dad about a
baby's "SOSs"--Signs of Over-Stimulation.
It's like the baby is saying, “Hey Mum, I can’t do two things at once--keep my body under control AND eat your yummy milk!” Her baby needs extra
support when feeding.
I first suggest that Mum express some milk because the breasts seem full and this
may contribute to the baby having a hard time latching on. Second, I try
wrapping (swaddling) him to stop that right arm from waving around. I
immediately notice a slowing down of his breathing as the arm stops moving. I
give the baby back to Mum. Wrapped up (swaddled), Mum returns him to the football hold and notices
that the baby is now in the "Ready Zone." The baby latches on
immediately, without any fussing, and continues to feed.
Mum has a big smile, and both Mum and Dad feel that they are going home with
strategies and techniques to take care of their baby."
"I recently worked with enthusiastic first-time parents and their four-day-old baby boy. They are eager to learn as much as they can while staying at the hospital's maternity unit. Mum’s milk is in and her breasts feel full.
It is their last night in the hospital and Mum is breastfeeding their baby boy at 5:00 AM. The baby is fussing at the breast. Mum is holding him in a football hold, and Dad is helping by holding the baby’s hand. Mum reports, “Breastfeeding has been going well. He has been waking up; I breastfeed him and he goes back to sleep. But, this time it's different. I attach him, he takes a couple of sucks but he keeps moving around and coming off the breast.”
Mum tries attaching him again so that I can observe the baby's behavior. I see that he is sucking a couple of times but keeps flailing his arm in all directions with jerky movements; his breathing is irregular as he tries to latch on.
I explain to Mum that I had just attended a fantastic HUG conference on Saturday and had learned some new techniques and strategies to help breastfeeding babies. I take this opportunity to talk to both Mum and Dad about a baby's "SOSs"--Signs of Over-Stimulation.
It's like the baby is saying, “Hey Mum, I can’t do two things at once--keep my body under control AND eat your yummy milk!” Her baby needs extra support when feeding.
I first suggest that Mum express some milk because the breasts seem full and this may contribute to the baby having a hard time latching on. Second, I try wrapping (swaddling) him to stop that right arm from waving around. I immediately notice a slowing down of his breathing as the arm stops moving. I give the baby back to Mum. Wrapped up (swaddled), Mum returns him to the football hold and notices that the baby is now in the "Ready Zone." The baby latches on immediately, without any fussing, and continues to feed.
Mum has a big smile, and both Mum and Dad feel that they are going home with strategies and techniques to take care of their baby."