Lisa,

I have capitalized for emphasis:

<Avoid using this positioning FREQUENTLY, as it may lead to plugged ducts.>

Notice the placement of that word in Kellymom's directions. (Her website is one of my favorite "go-to" sources for parents and caregivers alike.)

If that sentence were misinterpreted/misremembered, with the word occurring just a few words further in the sentence (after "may") it would have a whole different meaning, and that would be what would cause my eyebrows to raise.

I have been waiting to hear someone from "down under" comment on the name "Australian position" as I once heard that there were some/many there who felt somehow "uneasy" with the term (to say the least).

I have at long last begun to respond to the need to "cull" my papers and books (most on lactation) collected over the years. The other day, I came across an article I submitted in 1997 in response to a call for papers (from nurses, for nurses) for a new journal (which shall remain unidentified). I never received even so much as a word to confirm that it was received.

Its title was "Teaching New Breastfeeding Mothers the Australian Position". The first paragraph read:

"The descriptive name 'Australian Position' may have originated from observation of the duckbill platypus, a small mammal found in eastern Australia and Tasmania. The mother platypus lies on her back to feed, oozing out milk for the young, who climb up on her abdomen. Despite their bills, they"nurse" by lapping it up much as fowls drink water."

I don't know now where I got my "facts". I admit to having a vivid imagination;-) But the point of the whole article was aimed at OB nurses working in the OB recovery rooms (the closest a mom could get to nursing shortly after birth at the time. I was long out of the hospital into public health by this time, so even my memories of mothers having to lie flat for x amount of time after a spinal etc. may have (or be) way off.) But that was the gist of the article, the many benefits of the position for some mothers, SOME of the time.

Fortunately, we now have the brilliant work of Suzanne Colson and further progress in the BFHI recommendations, so the "hieroglyphics" of my own manuscript just mark a place in my own history;-) Brought me a smile for the day.

K. Jean Cotterman RNC-E, IBCLC
WIC Volunteer LC     Dayton OH

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