Winnie makes an excellent point about attitudes and experiences and how
they interact with the breastfeeding information that nurses give to new
mothers.  I sometimes do bf workshops for potential doulas, and I start
with this issue.

I find that if I can spend a minute or two listening with empathy to a
woman who "couldn't breastfeed" and identify the barriers she faced, she
can often turn around and offer support to mothers trying to breastfeed
now.  Works most of the time with antagonistic grandmothers - "When you
tried to breastfeed in the 60's, (or 70's, or 80's) there was no help
available.  No wonder you had such a hard time.  How brave you were to
bf your daughter for 3 months/weeks/days...you gave her a great start."

Now, who's gonna go into all the hospitals and give the nurses positive
reinforcement for their long ago efforts, and empathy for the hard time
they had?
--
Catherine Watson Genna, IBCLC  New York City  mailto:[log in to unmask]

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