UPDATE: I've been asked to speak to MDs about BFing!

[buddyleebaby]

Beth,
I had this very problem at my first pre-natal visit.
As soon as my Doctor found out that I was pregnant, he told me that I "really needed to start thinking about what I was going to do about that". I was only six weeks pregnant at the time and my dd was around 7.5 - 8 months old. Since my ob/gyn had NEVER been very supportive of breastfeeding, I had come prepared to plead my case. It was only after I argued with him that he admitted that both of my babies would be just fine. HE still insisted that I was "not superwoman" and I should just "let it go before i start to collapse.
Needless to say, I didn't. I am still nursing, and while I am tired, I have not fainted to date. My getting pregnant so soon may very well cause my milk to dry up before we are ready, but I am trying my best to nurse my dd as long as I can. If I had listened to my doctor, that would have been at least two months of breastmilk less- for no good reason.

[brittone2]

How awesome that you stood your ground :) It is hard to do!

No doubt it can be stressful to nurse while pg (I've never BTDT but I can imagine), but there's also significant stress involved in weaning for many women/babies too. Also you lose that ability to have a quick fix for an upset or injured infant/toddler, the quick fix to a cranky, sick baby, etc. If moms are up for it, they should be *encouraging* them to eat well, take care of themselves, and get enough rest. Ask them if they have support and help at home (and if not, they should talk to the DH about that, and remind them to help their wife!!), etc. but weaning shouldn't be the quick fix IMO.

Anyway, I think it is great that your doc was willing to admit you'd all be just fine :)

[writermama]

I'd second that! Though my midwife practice and my pediatrician are all supportive of my decision to keep nursing while pregnant, if I had less well-informed providers that would probably be different. As it is, I have enough trouble explaining/justifying this to family, it would be really hard to have negative pressure from medical professionals too.

I'm still nursing my DD 2-4 times a day and while my supply has declined, everything is still going well for both my nursling and my pregnancy. I just have to remember to drink LOTS of water.

[jacksmomtobe]

The previous post gave some great comments. I just wanted to emphasize the need of the Ped to be supportive of the Mom. Let them know they are doing a great job. My Ped is awesome and every time I left their office I felt so good about myself which is different from what many Moms I know have experienced. Some of the Peds had very rigid philosophies. Realize that something so "natural" really takes a lot of work in the beginning, with many frustrating moments. Definitely emphasize the importance of referring their patients to an LC. I had a tough time in the hospital getting the nursing relationship started with ds. The nurses (one in particular) thought I was doing just "fine". Luckily a friend put me in touch with a great LC who came to my home. She really made the difference. With BF if you are having latching problems 10% of the time it can really impact your psyche. DS was a bit of a barracuda and until I met with the LC I was anxious each time he nursed even though most of the time things went fine. The LC put me over the hump. Suggest they get educated about nursing complications such as thrush etc. I experienced some pain which started when I started pumping. I wasted a month trying to figure out the cause (which was just that I was too sensitive for the automated motions of my adv pump in style..when I switched to the orig pis I was fine) when the lc came up with the solution. It seems that Dr's aren't always that successful about diagnosing thrush and other nursing issues. Let the Ped know that the percentile charts are comparing apples to oranges when you compare bf babies to formula fed babies. Just because a baby has gained more does not mean they are healthier. I believe there is a percentile chart on kellymom.com. Not that they have to use that for their official record since the existing one is probably the std but to realize that there are points where bf babies just are not going to grow as quickly as formula fed babies which can skew things and to let the Moms know that is ok. My Ped was very supportive but it would have been nice to hear that at certain points where my son slipped a bit in percentiles that she understood that bf infants grow at different rates. The Ped should also let the Mom know that it is normal for BF infants to wake up during the night. I remember hearing from other Moms that their child was sleeping through the night. It wasn't until I went to a meeting on extended nursing and heard people with older children speak that I realized how common it was for the nursing baby to still wake up during the night. DS's last 3 feeding times were all during the night. Now that he is weaned he sleeps fine. Just because he was waking up didn't mean he had any kind of sleep problem. Nor is weaning a solution to a sleep problem though.My last thing would also be for the Drs to be aware and let their patients know that after a C-section the Mom's milk comes in later but that the baby will still be ok. New Moms really are delicate and need their Dr's support. They need to know they are doing a good job because you can really 2nd guess yourself.

Thanks for listening. Good luck with your talk!