XL02: When Nipple Distortion Leads To Nipple Tortion

Lecturer: Bridget Ingle
L-CERPs: 1.25
Cost: US$18.75
Access period: One week
Lecture recorded: at GOLD08
Synopsis: Breastfeeding should not be painful or cause distortion to nipple shape. Type of nipple distortion and damage can diagnose specific attachment problems.
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Lecture Details: When newborn babies are learning to breastfeed, there may be marked variation in their ability to attach correctly. The reasons for this are founded on both baby and mother causes. The baby needs to co ordinate several reflexes correctly in order to allow flow of muscle movements that create suckling at the breast. The circumstances of the labour, the timing and type of birth will influence the correct action as well as how adept are the skills of the mother. When a baby is struggling to co ordinate his reflexes, attachment may be assisted or hindered by the choice of breastfeeding technique. Many mothers suffer nipple distortion and damage. Wherever there is external damage, there will be internal tissue trauma also. Wherever there is a mis-shape or compression of the nipple, there will be nerve damage also. With each day of trauma, there is a post trauma picture, often vasospasm and neuralgia which then can remain problematic for mothers longer term. Generally, trauma to the nipples is classified by degree of external damage and the reported pain experienced by the mother. The author describes how to diagnose the cause of trauma by looking at the nipple - eg. damage at the tip or lateral side, compression line at the midline or medial side will all give the practitioner greater insight into the underlying issues. This knowledge can be combined with palate and suck assessment to assist a more expedient resolution to the attachment problems.

About the leacturer: Bridget Ingle qualified in paediatric nursing and midwifery in Brisbane, Australia. She first developed an unquenchable interest in all things breastfeeding and lactation after the birth of her first child in 1987, and was strongly influenced by her link with the NMAA (now Australian Breastfeeding Association). This led to qualification as IBCLC in 1992. For the past 15 years since then, Bridget has built and maintained a busy private practice in Brisbane where she has developed a one-to-one prenatal breastfeeding education plan and gained a wide range of experience working with mothers who have complex or specialty breastfeeding situations and babies who face physical challenges. Bridget endeavours to share her knowledge by contributing regularly at breastfeeding conferences and acting as mentor to student midwives or health professsonals who are working towards IBCLC qualification.