My mom attempted to breastfeed the 7 of us according to the 1950-60's
"rules"- every 4 hours, in the rocking chair in the bedroom, and followed
by a bottle of abm.  Needless to say, she "never made enough milk."  Only
the girls were allowed in to watch, the boys had to stay in another room.
That gave breastfeeding a special "mom and me" feeling, so much so that I
still remember quiet talks with Mom while she sat in that rocker, nursing
one of my siblings.
        When I was pregnant for my firstborn, I read everything I could
get my hands on re: birth and infant care.  Fortunately, one of those
books was the first edition of Karen Pryor's "Nursing Your Baby".  That
little bit of information, coupled with the warm-fuzzy memory of Mom
nursing and a few friends who enthusiastically nursed their babies led me
to decide to breastfeed.  My OB told me at a prenatal visit that he hoped
I would breastfeed.  I did not understand his quizzical look when I said
I intended to try...
        My childbirth educator happened to be a LLL Leader, so I got lots
of good information in prenatal classes.  Somehow, that immunized me
against all the problems Vinny would have - a short frenulum, hypotonia,
developmental delays, constant vomiting for 7 months.  My husband was
great, he was as terrified as I was, but never suggested abm.
        I see now that our success was due to the friends who let me
watch them bf their babies, our pediatrician who had ancient (blue)
copies of the Womanly Art of BF in his office for loan to moms, the
hospital "LC" who showed me how to position Vinny better so my bleeding,
blistered nipples could heal, the folks who wrote books praising bf, and
finally La Leche League for starting to fill my head with all this lovely
bf knowlege.
        I have two smart, sweet kids to show for it!
--
Catherine Watson Genna, IBCLC  NYC  [log in to unmask]