Sure, it's too late for the mother whose older child has chronic ear
infections to go back and breastfeed, but surely this is useful information
to have in case she has another child? Or in case she talks to friends, or
becomes a grandmother, or any number of other likely scenarios? Can't the
information be shared as "you probably didn't know about this at the time,
but breastfeeding could have reduced the risk of this"

I recently heard nursing staff explain to a mother who had given birth to a
low-birth-weight baby (small for dates) that her smoking during pregnancy
was possibly a factor in her baby's size and resulting problems. Yes, it
made the mother feel a bit guilty and uncomfortable and certainly it was too
late for her to go back and do anything about it. Yet nobody seemed to
hesitate to say anything to her.

Teresa Pitman
Guelph, Ontario

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