Suctioning is a routine intervention that often does more harm than good. Babies birthed over intact perineums rarely need vigorous suctioning. Save this procedure for the rare times when it is really needed. This can also lead to nipple confusion, which means sore nipples for mom, a baby that cries alot, and grows slowly. Mom may be convinced she doesn't have enough milk and may decide to supplement with formula, which can reduce the mother's milk supply and lead to a vicious cycle that ends with the baby refusing the breast and the end of breastfeeding for this baby.
Pain disorganizes babies.
Newborns feel pain more exquisitely. Circumcision can have a detrimental effect on breastfeeding, since pain disorganizes babies and their sucking. As you can guess, this was a highly charged meeting. The mothers seemed to NEED to talk about what happened to them. I ended the meeting by telling them that they each need to give birth where they feel most safe and to choose a birth attendant with a philosophy of birth similar to their own.