And the on the flip side:

There ARE women who are educated, question everything and let their wishes 
be known. Certainly, my daughter, Larisa, has heard many horror stories, 
alas, more so than the average, and knew that ANY intervention begins the 
downward spiral of more interventions and more often than not, leads to a 
Cesarean, all of which impacts breastfeeding. My daughter went into labor 
naturally at 41wks. The baby was down in pelvis, 4 cms, 100% effaced with 
her bag of waters bulging for the last 3 weeks of her pregnancy. She let 
her OB know that she did not want to be induced unless there was a problem 
and was scheduled for the following week (42wks) if labor did not begin 
naturally before then. Many women that she came into contact with were 
absolutely mortified that the doctor hadn't induced her, why put her body 
through all this? Hopefully, she educated them about the importance of 
waiting until the BABY is ready to be born. She had a natural, posterior 
birth (you know what they say about payback?) I was honored to be present 
for his birth. Andy, Larisa and I welcomed him into the world on June 23 at 
5:55AM (he was waiting for the full moon). Drew weighed in at 7lb 15oz. I 
can't begin to tell you all how proud I am of my beautiful, strong daughter!

I do think that education, communication and determination are the keys 
that open the door to birth and breastfeeding being perceived as being the 
norm. Larisa grew up attending La Leche League meetings and area 
breastfeeding conferences, heard my side of thousands of phone 
consultations and observed very few women bottle-feeding their babies. She 
was not intimidated by her health professionals and kept communications 
open as to what she hoped would be her birth experience. There is hope for 
the future, in women who have only known the importance of natural birth 
and breastfeeding. Moms who are responsive to their babies' needs are the 
best role models in the world. Thank you to all the breastfeeding moms who 
have helped me raise such a wonderful woman. We DO change the world one mom 
at a time.

OH, and breastfeeding? Drew immediately went to the breast and at 4 days 
was 8lbs 2oz. At his 2 week checkup he was 9lbs 9oz and had grown 2 inches 
in height and head circumference. She never experienced sore nipples or 
severe engorgement, milk in on the afternoon of day 2. Looks like it is 
going well. She has had very few questions; acts like she has done the 
mommy thing all her life.

Ellen Penchuk, IBCLC, RLC

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