The old nursery nurses postings have lead me to reminiscing about my
almost 27 years of being involved with breastfeeding (actually 43+ years
as I was a breastfed baby): first as a mother, then an LLLL who added an
IBCLC  and then earned a BSN.  My oldest daughter is ready to make me a
granmother and what advantages will she have over my attempts at
breastfeeding her?  Well, she won't have to wait 24 hours to feed her
child, then have the first feed be water.  She won't have to wipe her
nipples with cotton balls dipped in alcohol before she can put babe to
breast, limit the first feed to one minute per side, then give a bottle of
formula and wait 4 hours before she can again feed her little one.  If she
develops painful, cracked and bleeding nipples she will not have 5 medical
professionals tell her to wean.  She will not spend days crying every time
she prepares a bottle of formula while her breasts hurt and leak.  With my
second baby I had made a friend who took me to LLL and I at least knew what
to fight for to make breastfeeding success more likely. Thanks to you and
our foremothers (and a few forefathers) in lactation what I had to fight
for is accepted breastfeeding management.   In spite of this I fear she
will fall prey to whatever the reasons are that so few more mothers are
breastfeeding today than they were when she was born.
Linda Beckler, RN, BSN, IBCLC