The Benefits of Breastfeeding for My Family
Jessica Bunting
Andover MA USA
From: NEW BEGINNINGS, Vol. 20 No. 6, November-December 2003, pp. 214
When my son, Oscar, was
about a month old, his pediatric plastic surgeon told us that he had
torticollis. While my husband and I never expected that diagnosis, the
initial sign of torticollis-a somewhat "folded over" ear-was
evident from day one.
To briefly explain, torticollis
can occur when a baby is crowded in the womb and will literally tilt
his head to accommodate his lack of space. As a result, one side of
the neck's muscles will not develop as well as the other and will cause
his head to permanently tilt to one direction. We assumed that our newborn
baby's head was bound to tilt one way or the other because his neck
muscles needed to strengthen. However, we learned more when we consulted
a pediatric plastic surgeon to find out if there was something that
could be done about Oscar's ear. The surgeon pointed out the torticollis
and told us that it is very important to watch for the same tilt, in
the same direction, all the time. Oscar's torticollis wasn't severe
enough to require surgery, but he did begin receiving physical therapy
to help his neck muscles, and that has succeeded in developing them.
I knew the appearance of his ear, however, might benefit from other
treatments.
When we arrived at the center
for Pediatric Plastic Surgery at the Children's Hospital in Boston,
the first question I was asked was, "Are you a breastfeeding mother?"
I responded with a proud, emphatic, "Yes!" The doctor smiled
as if I had won a prize.
We learned that since Oscar
was a breastfed baby, his bones and cartilage were soft and pliable
enough for a non-surgical treatment to his ear. Our doctor told us that
if Oscar had been formula-fedâ we would have needed t wait until
surgery could be done when he was six years old. Oscar's ear was molded
into a more normal shape with a plastic insert inside the fold of his
ear and surgical steri-strips taping his ear back to his head. As the
doctor inserted the plastic and taped back his ear, she needed to really
manipulate his ear into the right position. Well, Oscar did not mind
because he was happily breastfeeding away during the entire procedure.
"Thank God I'm breastfeeding," I said to my husband, "or
this would have been a terrible day." After only eight weeks, Oscar's
ear looked normal and no one would ever know. Our experience with this
treatment is one more in the long list of benefits of breastfeeding
for our family.
Last updated Wednesday, October 11, 2006 by njb.
Page last edited Sun Oct 14 09:30:03 UTC 2007.
