>EXCELLENT report by Jennifer Tryon!!! Lactation consultants have been >"mopping up" from epidural births for years, and this study might be the >"smoking gun" we've been looking for. > > > >Linda J. Smith, BSE, FACCE, IBCLC Well.....I dunno. There are countries - such as Scandinavia - where the epidural rate is very high and where women manage to breastfeed far longer-term than practically everywhere else in the West. That doesn't mean they don't have problems, of course, but I wonder if our bf supporter colleagues in Scandinavia feel they experience a physiological difference. Maybe the way the epidural is given or the drug used is different. I can't say I have noticed a link between epidural use and not bf myself but I am not looking very hard, I suppose. I tend not to ask mothers about their birth experience unless it is very early days or I think there is still some reason why it might be impacting on the bf. I do notice (I think) a greater motivation to bf among women who try to avoid medicalising their birth experience and that would include preferring not to have an epidural in many cases. Heather Welford Neil NCT bfc, tutor, UK *********************************************** 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 email list is powered by LISTSERV (R). There is only one LISTSERV. To learn more, visit: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html