>Do you-all find this so in your practices?  Has anybody found a way to help
>primips to be more sucessful at BF? (without moving in with them <G>)

Breastfeeding support groups where first-time mothers *see* women holding
babies, breastfeeding them, and otherwise interacting with them are invaluable.

Did you ever hear of The Inner Game of Tennis or The Inner Game of Skiing,
and all of the other books of this nature?  The basic premise is that when
we *see* others engaging in an activity our mental and physical bodies
internalize subtle aspects of the activity and then can more easily learn it
ourselves.

Many first-time mothers in the US live very separatly from families with
infants and children and hence are not prepared for the role of mother, and
especially not for breastfeeding mother. Working in an office or other
adult-oriented work-place intil they go into labor doesn't allow for the
important interior work or the visual experiences that they need for this
new role. Most women whom I work with (those with problems) have never seen
a baby feed at her mother's breast. They can't even imagine what it is like,
and then they are brought a newborn and asked, as a client said recently,
"Do you want help with breastfeeding?"

I encourage any woman who wants to breastfeed her baby to attend LLL
meetings.  If she counters with something that she has heard about LLL that
she doesn't agree with, I tell her that she doesn't have to listen or accept
if she doesn't want to, just go and watch.  Breastfeeding classes are fine
but nothing can take the place of this visual experience and the
accompanying inner knowing.

If she is the 3rd or 4th of her friends to breastfeed their babies she has
an advantage.

Of course, even better is for her to have been fed at her mother's breast
herself (I'll bet that we "remember" a lot) and for breastfeeding women and
handling of babies to have been a common part of her life experience.

Coming soon....?

Patricia Gima, IBCLC
Milwaukee
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