Heather et al-

Felt I had to jump in here about mothers' influence and how it can be pernicious or
good.

Why am I a Leader? Why did I even breastfeed? MY MOTHER MADE ME DO IT. I was not
committed to the idea, but my mother was, and when things went badly in the early
days, she took me to an LC who fixed it and then encouraged me to go to my first
LLL meeting. When I was born in 1971, she got no help; in fact, in the hospital
they insisted on weighing before & after each feed, spaced at 4 hours apart. And of
course, her nipples, being somehow dirty, had to be sterilized with alcohol before
each feed. When they got all cracked, dry and sore, she was of course given nipple
shields. She was sent home with me this way. Around day 10,
delirious and exhausted, she fell asleep and when she woke up a few hours later, my
grandmother (her mother-in-law) or my aunt (her sister-in-law) -- it depends on who
tells the story --  had whipped up a lovely batch of formula to help her out and
I'd knocked back the whole bottle. Feeling defeated, she stopped then. So, that's
why my mother made me do it.

And you know, when I look back on my little life so far, all the things I've really
loved to do -- photography, swimming, most of all breastfeeding -- well, my mother
made me do 'em. And yes, I do tell her that from time to time!

Thanks again,
Natalie Rawlings Kraut
LLL Leader, Plantation, FL
Area Conference Supervisor, LLL-FL
Book Evaluation Committee, LLLI
mother of Emily, 4.5 precocious years

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