As much as the midwife in me would love to continue the pelvic floor thread,
we should keep Lactnet discussion above the belt.  At least make sure your
posts on incontinence and childbirth include something substantial about
breastfeeding.  The connection between incontinence and 'prolonged' BF seems
tenuous at best.  I haven't read the study but perhaps someone who has could
tell us how the authors defined 'prolonged' - did that mean over 5 years
with each child, or over 3 months?

We have a lot of stress incontinence in Norway in women who gave birth in
the 50's and 60's when little medication or intervention was used in labor.
But there is a lot less now than there was when women had to carry tubs of
water and lift soaking wet bed linens from the agitator tubs over to the
wringers... since our BF initiation rates have not changed much over the
past 130 years, and continuation rates were poorest in the late 1960's and
early 1970's, maybe someone could do a retrospective study to see if there
were any trends evident that could enlighten us.  Retrospective studies
aren't as good as prospective but they may tell you where to dig deeper in
your prospective study.

Normal birth is a rare animal, as is normal breastfeeding.  There is
definitely a connection there; after all, breastfeeding is just the next
phase after parturition in the reproductive continuum and you can't expect
one phase to be completely normal when every other phase has been profoundly
disrupted.  Midwives love to call themselves the guardians of normalcy, and
sometimes I feel like my job is to **find** the normalcy, which may be like
the proverbial needle in the haystack in some cases.  Once found, we have to
hold on to it, protect it and nurture it so it can spread - more and more of
a challenge with each passing year.  (Sigh!)

Rachel Myr
Kristiansand, Norway

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