Carol,

I think you misunderstood my statement about biting.  I think that I am
sensitive to the issue because of personal experience but I certainly don't
sit and tell pregnant clients my personal experience and fears about
biting.  For one thing, it would accomplish nothing except scare many of
them off. I don't totally agree with you that there is no room for telling
personal stories in our practice, however.  The low income women that I
work with react more favorably to personal stories and experiences than
they do to facts or statistics.  I do believe that it should be limited and
not contradict evidence based practice, however.

In an informal survey of the prenatal women I work with in maternity
clinic, when I ask "What have you heard about breastfeeding?" a MAJORITY
(I've intended to do this more formally and get more accurate data but
haven't had time) of them say "I've heard it hurts."  This can mean either
generally sore nipples from improper latch on etc. in some friend of theirs
that didn't get help to stories they've heard about biting.

-Lucy Towbin, MSW, IBCLC

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