The palate is located in the roof of the mouth. It separates the oral and nasal cavities and provides stability to the facial structures. When you touch the roof of your mouth with the tip of your tongue you will be hitting the hard palate. In breastfeeding, the hard palate's function is to assist with the positioning and stability of the nipple when drawn into the mouth.
We are heading into a holiday season that for many, is filled with excitement and wonder and for some, the first holiday season as a new mother. Along with all the joy and happiness comes stress for many families. The business of trying to get it all done, while maintaining peace and quite and a low level of stress on the home front can be difficult to achieve and maintain.
On last weeks Breastfeeding Bites, I talked about how important it is for a baby to achieve and maintain a good lip seal around the breast tissue to breastfeed well. When I notice the lip seal is poor that the reasons could be quite simple and with a few adjustments breastfeeding could be going really well. Or that the reasons could be more complicated and a good assessment will tell me how to proceed.
Michelle Emanuel has been a pediatric Occupational Therapist for 20 years. She has experience in the NICU, the PICU and the CICU and outpatient areas. Her s peciality ranges from the newborn to the precrawling baby and her focus has been on torticollis, plagiocephaly and oral restrictions and dysfuntion. Michelle developed the TummyTime Method program ten years ago in order to empower and equip parents with home activities to support optimal function and development. Michelle has studied extensively with osteopaths, doctors and leading researchers in her quest to provide the highest quality of care.
Oral and facial structure and function are extremely important to the babies ability to latch on and transfer milk. Babies who are born prematurely, who have health issues, illness, birth trauma, are all at risk for having breastfeeding problems.
Katherine Havener is an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant, a Certified Lactation Counselor, and a retired La Leche League Leader. She is also the author of the well-known nightweaning book, “Nursies When the Sun Shines.” Prior to becoming involved in the lactation field, she worked as an ethics attorney. Katherine is passionate about breastfeeding, attachment parenting, and natural family living. She is the proud mother of four girls ranging from toddler to teen, whom she breastfed a total of ten years.
Today, I would like to get you thinking about your return to work. The best time to plan for this is, yes, during your pregnancy. Taking action now, will help to relieve some of the pressure that you could be under when the calendar tells you that your time for staying home is up.
Almost every mother I see with this condition has never had a conversation with her provider about the risk factors associated with low supply. Therefore, this does not lead them to any further conversation about the need for close follow up and a referral to a lactation specialist so they can be closely followed up once their baby is born.
Today we will be talking about how you can best speak to your employer about breastfeeding/pumping when you return to work. My goal is to have you thinking and planning for your return to work, long before you complete your maternity leave. We will cover the most concerns moms have when pumping at work. They are: 1. Finding the appropriate place to pump, and 2. Finding the time to pump during your work day.