Val,
Here in NYC I see moms from a wide variety of ethnic and racial
backgrounds.  If the baby is not positioned, latched and sucking
properly, the mom will have sore and/or damaged nipples, no matter how
dark her skin.  I also know a number of very fair redheads and blondes
who bf with no pain, ever.  I would relegate this idea that skin color
has something to do with nipple pain to the "bf myth hall of shame".  I
think mothers' level of practical knowlege about bf (positioning, etc)
from cultural immersion in bf as the norm is responsible for a higher
incidence of pain free bf.  At the time that this idea that "fair" women
could not bf without pain was born, that cultural legacy had been lost
here in "the West".
--
Catherine Watson Genna, IBCLC  NYC  mailto:[log in to unmask]