| Abstract/Notes |
Objective: Breastfeeding during the first year of an infant’s life is currently supported and promoted by lactation consultants, midwives, naturopaths, chiropractors and allopathic physicians. In 1997, the American Academy of Pediatrics1 and in 1998, the World Health Organization2 published their position papers that advocated breastfeeding as the optimal form of nutrition for infants. This study was to investigate problems interfering with a successful breastfeeding experience and to see if proper lactation management, with the chiropractor acting as a member of a multidisciplinary support team, can help to assure a healthy
bonding experience between mother and infant. Methods: 25 infants demonstrating difficulties breastfeeding were evaluated for biomechanical dysfunction potentially resulting in an inability to suckle successfully. The biomechanics of 10 breastfeeding infants without complaint were also evaluated for comparison. Results: An overview of the infants with breastfeeding difficulty revealed imbalanced musculoskeletal action as compared to the infants without difficulty breastfeeding. Utilization of soft tissue therapies and chiropractic adjustments of the cranium and spine resulted in improved nursing in over 80% of the patients. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that biomechanical dysfunction based on articular or muscular integrity may influence the ability of an infant to suckle successfully and that intervention via soft tissue work, cranial therapy and spinal adjustments may have a direct result in improving the infant’s ability to suckle efficiently. This abstract is reproduced with the permission of the publisher; full text by subscription.
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