Well,
I finally did one of those High School Breastfeeding Classes.  The arrangements
were made by a senior in a local Catholic High School who had been to see me to
learn about breastfeeding and present to her classmates.  She said her Health
Teacher wanted to know if I'd come and speak to the entire Senior class.  Would
I ever!

I was concerned about how to address them, but decided to assume they were
adults - after all, some of my greatest successes have been moms their age...

1. Began with the very first part of Delivery Self Attachment - got their
attention and figured if the guys were going to be "waiting" until I showed them
a breast - I'd give them the view from the beginning.
2. Explained the marketing of formulas and how this has caused a reduction of
breastfeeding as manufacturers are "selling" us a product by convincing us we
'need' it - like a lipstick or a car.
        (showed our picture of twins from Pakistan to prove the point.)
3. Directed (per directions from my children) to the natural needs of mammals -
thanks Lactnet for information on squirrels, Diana Estep for information on
elephants, and the Discovery Channel and Dr. Dettwyler's book for the rest!
4. For my local "Catholic Humor" section I asked:
        And when Mary had to escape from Bethlehem  to Egypt with Baby Jesus - do
you suppose she turned to Joseph and said "Quick, Joseph, grab the cow and let's
go!"
5. Went on to the Benefits of Breastfeeding
6. The How to's of breastfeeding ( I followed much of Pat Bull's slide sets,
which - with her permission -   I have translated to Spanish.
5. Continually I was asked questions:
        Does the size of the breast affect bf
        Does surgery - reduction and enlargment - affect bf
        Can sisters bf each others babies (this from a set of twins in the class)
        Can twins be bf (showed a picture of our own LLLL with her 6 month old
twins)
        Diet
        Friend's experiences with low milk supply

I was bombarded with questions throughout the talk - hardly got through it in 1
1/2 hours (I had planned for 50 min.)  The teacher seemed pleased - and I hope
to have no repercussions from the frankness of the talk - and the pictures.

It was a real "upper" after some pretty frustrating days at the hospital!  (Mom
of tiny twins refused to have me help her with bf at the end of my 10-hour day
because she wanted to talk to her visitors - she wanted me to come back later!)

Jeanette Panchula, BSW, LLLL, RN, IBCLC
Puerto Rico
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