I'm always delighted when a client asks why we have to learn to bf.  I
tell her about the gorilla who had been zoo-reared, with no
opportunity to observe other gorillas with their babies.  When her
first baby was born (yep, she did get the sex part right), she held it
to
her chest **facing out**.  And I remind the client that no other
mammal has any notion about nursing being a transfer of fluid.  Most,
of course, would never even see their own milk.  Her instinct was to
hold, not to position in a particular way.

The baby ultimately had to be taken away from her to be hand-raised.
So when she was pregnant the second time, the zoo hired nursing
mothers to sit outside her cage and nurse their babies.  And she
nursed her second baby... facing in.

The moral is, nursing may be instinctive for lots of mammals, but for
higher primates it's largely a learned behavior.  If the
gorillas can't get it right without seeing it done, why do we think
*we* should be able to?

(The whole gorilla story is actually longer.  Apparently she wasn't
all that interested in the nursing moms until her pregnancy advanced,
at which point she really started checking them out.  But even after
the
birth, she had to have a step-by-step walk-through by a LLLL (each on
her own side of the bars, I imagine)).

The original story refers to a Columbus, OH gorilla, but I believe
similar incidents have occurred at other zoos.  I figure if I'm mixing
my details a bit it doesn't matter.  This is a composite gorilla, and
the gist is certainly reassuring to moms who feel all-thumbs.

Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC  Ithaca, NY

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