(On Demand Recording)

When Breastfeeding is Not Possible: How to Help Mothers Move Through Grief and Form a Secure Attachment with Their Babies

(Approved for CE for maintaining PMH-C)

(On Demand Recordings are not approved through NBCC)

$125

Clock Hours: 3 total

There are times when breastfeeding is not possible. Early breastfeeding cessation may be because of injury or physical limitations. Or it may be caused by bad advice and mismanagement. In either case, mothers’ feelings of sadness, anger, or failure can be profound. Professionals are in a key position to help mothers move through this loss in a positive way. The most important goal of new motherhood is still attainable: forming a secure attachment with their infants. 

The goals of this presentation are to describe mothers’ feelings following loss of breastfeeding and guide them towards establishing a secure attachment with their babies. This approach does not minimize the importance of breastfeeding. Rather, it refocuses mothers’ attention on a key and still-attainable parenting goal. Drawing upon recent and classic literature from developmental psychology, participants will learn four evidence-based methods parents can use that increase the likelihood of secure attachment. These studies provide new information to lactation providers that can help them understand the rationale for parenting behaviors they often recommend. The goal is to help these mothers resolve their grief and feel positively about themselves as parents.

Objectives

1. To understand mothers’ feelings when they are not able to breastfeed.

2. To describe breastfeeding in the broader context of parenting and attachment.

3. To understand the lifelong importance of secure mother-baby attachment and how to promote it.

4. To describe four feeding and parenting activities that promote attachment.

Presenter: Kathleen A. Kendall-Tackett, PhD, IBCLC, FAPA

Feeding, Crying, and Mother-Infant Sleep: Why Standard Sleep Advice Threatens Breastfeeding and Harms Maternal Mental Health

Mother-infant sleep is surprisingly complex, yet practitioners issue advice that does not consider these complexities. When infants do not sleep, they often cry, which is stressful for mothers and can lead to depression. Simply telling mothers to supplement or avoid nighttime breastfeeding increases mothers’ fatigue and can harm their mental health. Infant sleep is influenced by their sex, temperament, and gestational age. Mothers’ depression, anxiety, or PTSD during pregnancy also influences their infants’ sleep. However, exclusive breastfeeding ameliorates many of these difficulties because it downregulates the hyperactive stress response. It also protects mothers’ mental health because it leads to better sleep. This session also offers suggestions for how to help mothers with extreme fatigue.

Objectives

1. To describe how characteristics, such as infant temperament and sex, and mothers’ mental health during pregnancy can influence mother-infant sleep.

2. To understand the bidirectional nature of mothers’ sleep and depression.

3. To compare a multi-factorial model of mother-infant sleep with simplistic sleep advice that increases mothers’ fatigue, cause breastfeeding to fail, and increase mothers’ risk of depression. 

4. To describe two ways that exclusive breastfeeding changes sleep in a way that protects mothers’ mental health.

5. To understand why mothers are often pressured to supplement or wean.

6. To facilitate emergency strategies for very fatigued new mothers.

Presenter: Kathleen A. Kendall-Tackett, PhD, IBCLC, FAPA

Nurturing Mamas Network has been approved by NBCC as an Approved Continuing Education Provider, ACEP No. 7232. Programs that do not qualify for NBCC credit are clearly identified. Nurturing Mamas Network is solely responsible for all aspects of the programs. If a participant or potential participant would like to express a concern about his/her experience with Nurturing Mamas Network, he/she may call or e-mail Felicia Hurst at felicia@nurturingmamasnetwork.com.

Although we do not guarantee a particular outcome, the individual can expect us to consider the complaint, make any necessary decisions and respond within 30 days