Fio wrote:
"I *do* think that it MIGHT have helped to have less "sheltered" breasts to
begin with.  No matter what the latch was like."

I have never said this to anyone for fear that I would be thought of as being stupid or gullible back when I was nursing my children but here goes....
When I had my first child I was in the hospital for 7 days due to a cesarean birth, and infection on my part and jaundice on hers. I started getting very tender breasts while there. One of my nurses brought me breast shells (she called them Swedish Milking Cups!) and told me to wear them all the time when not nursing. I do not have inverted nipples, I just had soreness. The soreness went away and I believed it was due to keeping my nipples free from any irritation from the fabric of my clothing. I forget how long I wore them but it wasn't for the whole time that I nursed her. Then child number 2 was born, a lovely VBAC. I had brought my "magic shells" to the hospital with me and started wearing them right away. Not a minute of soreness. Same thing with child number 3 (with this one I did have to fight that hospitals policy of D5 after each feed by dumping some in the sink and lying that he had taken that much of it!). 
At that time (22, 20 and 18 years ago) I believed that these shells had "saved" me from the breastfeeding pain I had heard others talk about. Over the ensuing years I began to wonder if this was not just coincidence and that I was believing something that wasn't true so I have kept it to myself.
Now, hearing Fio's comment about "sheltered" breasts I wonder?

Karen Ianacone, RN, MA, CCE, CLC

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