Dear Lactnet Friends:

I don't know of any follow-up research that identifies which strategies are
most effective in breastfeeding classes. There's a master's thesis that
needs doing!

I like simple. In one hour, 3 or 4 messages for her to take home. Remember
that 97% of her brain cells are thinking "How will I know I am labor?" You
have access to 3 or 4 of her brain cells for learning anything else.

Show a s2s baby self-attachment video. That gets lots of discussion going
on; turn the lights down low and leave them low after the video is over, so
folks feel safer to talk about things.

Make sure every mother has a list of phone numbers and websites to contact
after she comes home with her baby. Suggest she go to a nursing mothers
group and see lots of mothers nursing babies of all ages; she will learn
more from that watching than from the class. Peter Hartmann calls this
"learning by osmosis".

For getting a class engaged, ask the group, "What have you heard about
breastfeeding that you didn't like?" Then write down all their responses
verbatim on the board. You will have created a class agenda. Talking about
the benefits of breastfeeding is useless, because everybody already knows
'breast is best', and it is a slogan on the cans of our competitors'
products.

Ask who she knows in her family or network that breastfed and liked it.
Encourage keeping this person close as a resource.

See if the mothers need doulas, as having a spontaneous, undisturbed,
unmedicated labor and delivery is the best start to breastfeeding.

These are ideas based on experience; while I have certainly had fun and
felt that I did a good job after a breastfeeding class, I really don't know
if anything I said was useful.

warmly,
Nikki Lee RN, BSN, Mother of 2, MS, IBCLC, CCE, CIMI, ANLC, CKC
Author:* Complementary and Alternative Medicine in Breastfeeding Therapy*
www.breastfeedingalwaysbest.com
https://www.facebook.com/nikkileehealth
*Get my FREE webinar series
*

             ***********************************************

Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html
To reach list owners: [log in to unmask]
Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask]
COMMANDS:
1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail
2. To start it again: set lactnet mail
3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet
4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome