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Ning Desiyanti Soehartojo, MD, IBCLC, is a mother of four and a physician in Shah Alam,
Malaysia, where she has provided primary care to families for many years. Since
becoming an IBCLC in 2009 Ning has focused her practice on supporting
breastfeeding women and is now eager to incorporate HUG Your Baby into the care she provides. She volunteers as a Peer Counselor Program Administrator
responsible for training breastfeeding peer counselors in Malaysia. Ning shares the
following story with us today.
Annie came for a
lactation consult because she wanted to relactate and, if possible, learn to
breastfeed her baby. Annie’s prolonged
labour left her exhausted and too sedated to initiate breastfeeding immediately
after birth.
Adam was a sleepy baby for the first few days, and Annie’s “flat nipples” made it difficult to get breastfeeding off to a good
start in the hospital. As a result, Annie bottle-fed Adam with formula
milk.
“It has been a month
now, and I still can’t figure him out. He sometimes wakes up with a start
and cries. When I picked him up to feed, he would either fuss and push me
away or fall back to sleep.” I took the opportunity
to explain a baby’s two types of sleep – active sleep and deep sleep – and how
baby cycles between these two every 30-90 mins.
Adam was in
Annie’s arms. I used The HUG's "See, then Share" approach. I described that Adam was in
deep sleep now: his arms were floppy, his breathing deep and regular, and his
eyes shut tight. Annie mentioned that it’s difficult to get Adam to
wake for feeds when he’s in deep sleep. I explained that it will be easier to
rouse Adam from active sleep than from deep sleep. Annie went on to undress
Adam, called his name, tickled his feet, smothered him with kisses – “I do this
every morning, to wake him for his bath.”
As Adam was
transitioning from the Resting Zone to the Ready Zone, he showed signs of
overstimulation. His limbs jerked and tremored, his face turned red, and he clearly was not happy. I pointed out this SOS, helped Annie notice how her son was entering the Rebooting Zone, and then guided Annie to decrease stimulation while increasing support. She
quickly but quietly cuddled and held him close, swaying him gently.
Responding to his mother's comforting measures, Adam
gradually settled. Annie sighed with relief. “I understand now. Less is more.” As the first step
towards transitioning Adam to the breast, Annie plans to do lots of
cuddling and skin-to-skin contact when he is in his Ready Zone.
“I wanted so much for
Adam to breastfeed. But each time I put him to the breast, he fussed, cried
and refused to latch. I felt he was pushing me away and didn’t need me. With the help of The Hug approach, Annie learned to pay attention to Adam’s cues and behaviours.
“When I understand which Zone Adam is in, I can respond to his needs
better”.
Adam transitioned from
full bottle feeding to breastfeeding on demand by 3 months old. He's definitely
a star, thanks to mummy Annie's patience and determination and a bit of guidance from me and The HUG!
CLICK HERE to see and hear what Malaysian Lactation Consultants think about incorporating HUG Your Baby into their work with young families.