Now that we've dissected pumps for a while, how about pillows?  I loathed
them on sight, feeling that they delayed and formalized what should be a
quick and casual event  and contributed to poor positioning by "telling"
the mom to take the baby's weight on her lap instead of on her torso.

I had one client who refused to even try nursing (her second!) without her
pillow.  "Let's practice 'emergency breastfeeding,' I suggested.  "You're
at the mall, you brought the baby, the toddler, the stroller, the diaper
bag, and... oops!  You forgot the pillow and the baby's hungry."  She
started to put the pillow aside, then scooped it back up and told me, "I
won't forget my pillow".

But since then I've seen several mothers who do nurse quickly and casually
everywhere, who felt a nursing pillow was a big help to them initially.
One LC told me she's struck by how a new nursing mother is separate,
disjointed parts -  breast, hands, body, baby - that she has to learn to
coordinate.  When you see her a month or two later, the parts are joined
together smoothly, but at first perhaps the pillow helps her focus on a few
of the parts at one time without having to worry about all of them
together.  And I've noticed that the moms I've worked with who've had a
pillow have put the baby completely on his side on the pillow - because it
just didn't work otherwise - perhaps teaching them to keep the baby on his
side after they stop using the pillow.  I also noticed, when I tried on a
model w/ a wraparound velcro strap, that I felt "nurtured".  I was being
"held", and it was a soothing, centering feeling.  Interesting!

My tentative compromise has been to have a nursing pillow that I loan out
for 2 weeks at a time.  That way, the mom *has* to give it back and "go
solo", but can use it initially if she and I feel it might be helpful.

What do others think about this latest attempt by industry to make money
off a free and fundamental human behavior?  Pros?  Cons?

Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC, LLLL  Ithaca, NY