Supporting Successful Breastfeeding - Castellino Training

11us the positions and movements theywent through when they were bornand during other significant prenatalevents. We find that when we,including the parents, actually meet ababy’s internal rhythmic needs andattune ourselves to the baby’s rhythm,it increases the likelihood that thebaby will form secure attachments toher parents. A primary skill thatcaregivers (parents and practitioners)need to develop in order to do thiswith a baby is to be able to beauthentic with their own feelings,state them, differentiate them and bewith the baby. This involves being inthe moment with how we are feelingwhile also paying attention to thebaby’s needs at the same time. Thismeans not just attending to basicsurvival needs such as shelter,feeding, sleeping, diapering etc., butattending to the tempo or rhythmsthat actually support the baby tointegrate her experience frommoment to moment. The amazingthing is that when we attune ourselvesto the baby’s rhythmic needs, wefunction better and are more capableof making sense and integrating ourown experience, moment to moment.We self-regulate and we becomemore coherent in ourselves. (See DanSiegel and Mary Hartzell inParenting from the Inside Out, 2003,on coherent vs. cohesive narrative.) Itis here that if we have not developedcoherency with our own personalhistory, as caregivers, we are morelikely to project our own early unmetneeds onto babies and do things forthem and to them that may actuallyget in the way.I would like to tell you the storyabout how self-attachment, selfregulation,practitioner orienting,tracking slow rhythmic fluid tides andattention to attunement supported ababy and his mom to begin nursingafter a series of traumatic events thatdid not allow them to beginsuccessfully nursing after birth.Clinical Application:Repair Needs and EstablishingBreastfeeding at 12 WeeksThis is the story of how Dr. WendyMcCarty and I discovered theimportance of the self-attachmentsequence and ways to use it forhealing and repair. Dr. McCarty and Ico-founded BEBA and workedtogether during BEBA’s first fiveyears. I want to introduce you toSkyler (Sky), Stacey and Chris 5 . Wemet and began working with thisfamily in December of 1995 whenSky was six weeks old. At that point,Sky was not yet nursing. Mom andDad were feeding him with expressedbreast milk through a syringe bydripping it down their index finger.They were exhausted and concernedhe was beginning to lose weight.When he was born, Sky weighed 6lbs. 13 oz.After several sessions, the parentsgave us a copy of the videotape ofSky’s birth and their first attempt tobreastfeed a few hours after his birth.His birth and postpartum period had aseries of complications. Labor began5 days prior to his birth. Theyintended to have a home birth, butafter an intermittent labor for 4 days,Stacey transferred to hospital. SheThese are the actual names of thisfamily, used with their permission.©2004 Ray Castellino, DC, RCST®, RPP, RPE. First edition June 2004.1105 N. Ontare, Santa Barbara, CA 93105. 805-687-2897, ray@castellinotraining.com, www.castellinotraining.com