Hot Topic: Early Latching

Sep 8

Kaely Harrod 00:04
Welcome to doula Tips and Tits. This podcast is a place where we answer one question about doula work, both to support you and to help you support your clients. I'm Kaylee Harrod. I've been supporting families in this perinatal space since my oldest was born 12 nearly 13 years ago. I am a birth and postpartum doula childbirth educator, La Leche League Leader and a doula coach. I love guiding and supporting doulas as they work out their doula business. It is a tremendous joy to be trusted in this way. Thank you for joining us on this journey. All right, this is the last point of view episode. And it is about latching so for the sake of this episode, I'm talking about the earliest latch. So like the first time a baby is trying to latch on after delivery. The reason I want to talk about this a little bit is that a lot of doulas are still present at the birth for this first latch. And if you haven't helped with that, if you haven't witnessed it, it's really important to know what's normal, what's not normal kind of how to facilitate the process a little because your client might really look to you to be like, is this what this baby is supposed to be doing in the process? So there's a few different things to think about. The first is don't force a baby to try to latch before they're showing cues. So oftentimes, when a baby is born, especially when they're born vaginally, they're a little shocked afterwards. Like they're like, What the heck did you just do to me? And why did you squeeze me out of that lovely place I was living to this, right? So we want them to do things like cry, and like get their lungs like nice and clear. And transition to being on the outside. Like, those are good things right. And a baby doesn't come out starving, like they've been getting food and an oxygen and whatnot from the placenta. So they're not coming out just like Oh, thank goodness, I'm done with that process. Now I can eat, you know, not that they don't last usually pretty quickly. But I would say sometimes it's 30-45 minutes after they're delivered, that they're really starting to like, open their mouths and stick out their tongue and maybe stuck on their hands. Those are all signs of routing, which is what we call when someone is looking at when a baby's kind of looking to latch on. Okay. Now, when a baby is first latching, there is some instinct involved, for sure, for both people. But also, there's some newness involved for both people. So I think it's very important to normalize the fact that sometimes a baby does a really crappy latch in the early latch. And that's okay, like not, and I don't mean a latch that like hurts, and you should let it continue to hurt. I mean, like, sometimes the nipple is like, right in their mouth, and they just sit there with their mouth wide open and lick it like they're lapping up milk from a capital, right? Like that's, that's what I mean, like, they just kind of are. They're completely inexperienced; everything right. And so sometimes that burst latch takes a little bit of time to happen. And I think it's really important to normalize that for your clients. So they're not just like, oh, my gosh, my kid doesn't know how to do it, right from the get go. And that doesn't completely freak them out. Okay. So it's normal for a baby to start by smelling and licking and kind of rubbing their face around and doing that kind of stuff before they really get a good latch and start sucking. All of that is normal. All of that should be normalized for the person who's just given birth. Now a few things that can be really helpful to look out for one is position of the baby. Sometimes when a person is trying to position a baby at the breast, they position them in a position that's better for older babies. So if you think about, like if you've seen a movie of someone breastfeeding, or chest feeding, and they have the baby, kind of like in the crook of their arm, like where the baby's head is right in their elbow space, right? That is not a great latch for a brand spanking new newborn, because they're going to try to latch on to essentially anything that touches them. So it's better to have them in a hold like a cold cold cross cradle, and I realized this is not a visual episode. So I want you to go and look at some of these holds. But also, I'm going to put in the show notes, my very favorite latching video to give you some context. So Grace cradle is essentially where someone is guiding the baby across their body from the opposite arm. So if they're going to the left side, they're using the right arm to do that and then their left arm is free to help guide the body right Like if the breast or the testes needs to be moved around, or the nipple needs to be lined up better, that can all happen with that left hand. So part of what you want to look for is that the baby's body is really nice and close to their parent. Because with their chest, and kind of body lined up straight, but also close to their parent, they're going to naturally tilt their head up a little bit, which is what we want, when a baby latches and kind of tilts down or sort of like head butts into the parent, they tend to bury their nose in and then they unlatch because they can't breathe in that position, right. So part of getting them into a good position is giving them space for their nose so that when they do latch, they can suck, swallow and also breathe, right. Another thing to think about is that their hands, sabotaged them. And what I mean by that is that a baby tries to put their hands in their mouth, they try to like get their hands up where they can kind of stuck on both at the same time, right. And so oftentimes, when I'm supporting someone with an early latch, and they have a partner who's really actively involved, I'll tell the partner, they can hold those hands, they can help them kind of, like have somebody to grip on to, but keep them out of their mouth, right? Sometimes it's easier if they're in a position where the hands are naturally just down from their shoulders a little bit so that they're not quite as much in the way. Again, this is primarily the case in the earliest days, when a baby is really trying hard to do the best they can at latching and also unaware of the fact that their hands are even there, right, and are even sabotaging them. So. So that's, I think, a helpful thing to know just about the very, very earliest latch. Now, it's also normal for a baby to feed some at the beginning and then fall asleep. Again, they are not born desperately needing nutrition they're born with having had everything they need from the placenta. So yes, they need some some food, yes, they need to start the process of lactation. But this first feeding is not a scenario where this kid's been starving for the whole day. And now they're finally getting to eat right. So sometimes we see that it's a little bit shorter, sometimes you see that a baby gets exhausted and just passes out, which we call milk drunk sometimes, but they don't really have milk at that point. It's colostrum, which is the earliest milk I mean, that's not It's not not milk. But I want you to think about it as kind of like a signal to the body that the baby is out and healthy and needing food. And also, kind of trial run of latching right. I do often see that because of the exhaustion of birth, a person needs to be coached through latching again, the next time they try it. Typically, that's not when the doula is there. But you can kind of normalize that for a client. If you're saying like, Hey, I'm going to head out, but it's normal for your nest next latch to also need some help. Because you might not remember everything about this latch just because of how tired you are. That's especially true after a long delivery, especially true after a particularly hard delivery, or a delivery that's included some medication that makes someone a little bit groggy. So those are all important factors. to kind of keep in mind, one of the biggest pieces of information I make sure every single person hears is that it's always beneficial to have some assistance with feeding your baby, whether that's another person who's fed a baby, encouraging you, or a full on international board certified lactation consultant who can help you through the process. So I just like to normalize the fact that that process is best done with some encouragement and support and not in a completely isolated environment. Okay. Now that early latch time is exactly the same. After a C section, it's exactly the same in and out of hospital. So all of that that I'm sharing, I would say the same way to people, regardless of what their plan is in terms of delivery. All right. So this is the last episode of this little like point of view series. I would love to hear your questions, but also I'm finishing up recording for the rest of the year. So I would love to hear what your questions are that you want answers for the rest of this next like six months of podcast, so that they get in and don't have to wait until 2024 Which sounds like ages from now, but I know it's gonna fly by so I would love to connect with you on Instagram at Harrod doula is how you find me the link is in the show notes. And also that latching video that I love is in the shownotes. So I do recommend you checking that out and saving it as a resource for your clients as well. All right, I'll see you in the next episode.
Kaely Harrod 10:01
Thanks for joining us for this episode of the doula Tips and Tits podcast. If you learned something today or had an aha moment, we'd love for you to share that on Instagram and tag us at Harrod doula, so we can celebrate alongside you. If you found this podcast helpful, we would so appreciate you taking me a second to leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast app that helps other doulas find us as we do this work together. This podcast is intended as educational and entertainment it is not medical advice or business advice. Please consult your own medical or legal team for your own needs around your health and your business. We'll see you again soon.

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Together, we'll explore the different experiences for both baby and birthing person with early latching. Whether you're a seasoned doula seeking to refine your approach or a new doula eager to learn the ropes, this episode is packed with insights and strategies to help you guide your clients toward successful early latching.

My very favorite latching video: https://globalhealthmedia.org/videos/attaching-your-baby-at-the-breast/

Quote from the show:

“They're completely inexperienced; everything right. And so sometimes that burst latch takes a little bit of time to happen. And I think it's really important to normalize that for your clients. So they're not just like, oh, my gosh, my kid doesn't know how to do it, right from the get-go. And that doesn't completely freak them out. Okay. So it's normal for a baby to start by smelling and licking and kind of rubbing their face around and doing that kind of stuff before they really get a good latch and start sucking. All of that is normal. All of that should be normalized for the person who's just given birth. ”

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Kaely Daily is produced by Kaely Harrod of Harrod Doula Services

It is sponsored by The Birth Prep Blueprint Childbirth Class

Music by Madirfan: Hidden Place on Pixabay