Cleft of Soft Palate-Failure to Thrive due to Breastfeeding

[vwall@quiknet.com]

In 1984, my daughter was born with a cleft of the soft palate
right up to the hard palate..I was not told of any thing special
I would need to know regarding feeding. At one month old, she was
admitted to hospital for Failure to Thrive as I was actually
starving her due to the fact she could not get enough suction
going to get the milk from the breast. I switched to the bottle
and still had problems as regular nipple took over an hour for
four ounces of milk. Finally discovered the orange juice nipples
with the center cut out--then she was able to get her milk down
successfully and there was no choking.

[rbaer@direct.ca]

I'm very sorry to hear that you were not informed about the
problems with breast feeding. I saw a lactation consultant the
first day we were in the hospital who said two very inportnan
things to me:your child will never breastfeed successfully, no
matter how hard you try or what you do: and DON'T LET ANYONE MAKE
YOU FEEL GUILTY FOR THIS(INCLUDING YOURSELF). You were doing what
you thought was best, and that ia really all that matters.
Perhaps when you have some time and energy in a few years, you
might look into getting the hospital where you gave birth
EDUCATED so this doesn't happen to anyone else.