In response to all the hype about nipple shields:

I think they are not a big deal. It is my personal and professional opinion that what ever helps the mom is acceptable. If a pregnant mother purchases a nipple shield from Babies R Us and then puts it on before her baby ever has any problems and she countinues to successfully nurse her baby > 1 year of life...what is the damage? Personally, I also think Boppy's are kind of silly, but if they make a mom more willing to nurse her preemie, I say, "Go for it!".

We all get so wrapped up in the rights and wrongs of breastfeeding, I think our main goal should be to support the mother and offer educated direction, but ultimately it is the mother's decision on how she chooses to nurse her baby. In regards to weight gain and milk supply; most of those studies are antiquated and were done on mothers using nipple shields that we would never consider:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19735341
J Obstet Gynecol Neonatal Nurs. 2006 Mar-Apr;35(2):265-72

I think we need to bring lactation into the future and start accepted that our ideals may not be Mom's ideals.

Sincerely,

Julia Augur IBCLC, RLC

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