>
>
>My question is how you instill in a new mother that she is 
>capable of breastfeeding. Also as a nurse and a sister how can I show 
>my support and help to boost her confidence. 
>
Hello,

I just wanted to suggest one easy way to help support an expectant 
mother who is planning to breastfeed -- encourage her to attend La Leche 
League meetings before the birth. Leaders notice a real difference in 
the reactions of mothers who attend meetings before and those who come 
afterwards. The message given at LLL meetings is clearly that mothering 
is a wonderful experience, that there can be challenges in breastfeeding 
but they can be overcome and it is worth it.

I think it is very interesting that the session on breastfeeding made 
your sister a little nervous. Do you think this might be because of the 
classroom atmosphere? Was the balance of information and encouragement 
leaning a bit towards the former? Some mothers have talked about going 
to their first LLL meeting with pencil and notepad, and then being 
amazed at what it's really like. There *is* lots of information but it 
isn't taught -- it's shared.

And the really cool thing is you get to actually see babies nursing. At 
least once a year I ask moms if they remember the first time they saw a 
baby nursing. In many cases, it is a rare and recent occurence, not 
something they grew up with, so seeing mothers joke about babies popping 
on and off and seeing that tender look between mom and babe can be the 
best information you can offer to an expectant mom.

Hope this helps,

Jo-Anne

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