The most common position being taught in hospitals here seems to be the clutch (football) hold. This is what the midwives seem to prefer. But ... baby is usually placed too far forward with the result that the head is markedly flexed upon latch. Also the back of the baby's head is held in the hand of the midwife/nurse - so naturally mothers also hold their babies that way. I find it difficult to position a baby really well in this position in our hospital beds - especially if the mother is small. Another favourite is to push the breast into the wide open mouth of a crying newborn! Pillows are frequently used (misused?). Pillows can be useful to facilitate the mother's comfort, but often they tend to dictate the baby's position, that is, baby is placed on the pillow first (usually on his back) and mother then leans into baby. Needless to say nipple trauma is fairly common! Diane's post re Correct Latch rings true. We have learnt much over the years. As she says: "It's humbling, confusing...and very exciting." The best teacher I have found is the baby - we just need to learn to interfere less - starting with the birth process..... Jean Ridler RN RM IBCLC Cape Town South Africa [log in to unmask] --- Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free. Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com). Version: 6.0.516 / Virus Database: 313 - Release Date: 2003/09/01 *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] 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