Size doesn’t matter. Neither does quantity. These are among the first few things that Shivani Shivlani tells newbie mummies when they come to her for breastfeeding advice. For the last four years, Shivlani has been the lactation and ante-natal care specialist at Bandra’s Clay Wellness Centre. Her job involves providing advice on pre- and post-natal paramedical care, nutrition counselling and breast feeding. “Women are most concerned about breastfeeding,” Shivlani said. “I get so many calls from frantic mothers who think they aren’t producing enough colostrum [breast milk]. They think they’re going to be filling up bottles and they get worried when it’s only a trickle.” That’s when she opens her drawer and takes out one of her favourite props.
“This is the size of a baby’s stomach,” she explained, holding up a regular-sized marble. “How much milk do you need to fill this up anyway?” It’s a tried-and-tested ploy and generally gets the mummy to smile, momentarily forgetting the nerves that accompany her new role.
Shivlani’s been there and knows what it’s like. “I was every obstetrician’s nightmare,” the mother of two recalled. Appointments and check-ups that generally lasted around 20 minutes would go on for the better part of an hour. “Why am I feeling like this?” Shivlani would ask her doctor. “Why am I not feeling like that? How? When? What? I had at least half a notebook worth of questions for every visit.”
Her husband suggested she turn her curiosity about pregnancy into a career. After a year-long internship in anti-natal care at Beams Hospital in Khar, Shivlani joined Clay Wellness in August 2005. “My job as lactation consultant means making sure the breastfeeding process is going fine,” she explained. “That the mother is comfortable and the baby gets what it needs. And of course, to make sure that the mum’s having fun.”
Myth-busting is also a large part of her job. “Women think that having small breasts mean producing less colostrum,” Shivlani said. “Doesn’t matter at all.” The biggest misconception, according to Shivlani, is that women need to have delivered a child to be lactating. Not true, she said. “All it takes is some stimulation, a breast pump and a handful of exercises. Women looking to adopt can now be part of the process. Breasts are very well designed, so to speak.” Neha Sumitran
Shivani Shivlani can be contacted at Clay Wellness, 20/3, Pali Village, Bandra (W) (6506-8534). Flexible timings.
Source : Time Out Mumbai ISSUE 1 Friday, September 03, 2010
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