One of the speakers at the LLLI conference this year was Dr. Thomas Lewis, author of "A General Theory of Love" and one of his points is that emotions change behaviour, information rarely does. So you can give pregnant women lots of information about birth and breastfeeding, but if they FEEL (based on previous experiences, the reactions of people they know, the way they are treated or responded to in the hospital) that their bodies are not capable of birthing or producing milk, neither process is likely to work well. Dr. Lewis also talks about how the presence of a loving person regulates the physiology of the other person. I think this is probably a big part of why doulas and breastfeeding counsellors are successful. The doula's calm assurance and comfort changes the emotions of the labouring woman - she feels safe, she absorbs the doula's confidence in birth. I think the same is true when we help women with breastfeeding. It may be more important to connect with the mother's feelings than to pass on lots of "helpful information." Teresa Pitman Guelph, Ontario *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html