Just wanted to drop a note of thanks to Lactnet for keeping me informed.

At our meeting this morning, I had a mother state that her friend was unable
to breastfeed due to milk with a high sodium content.  Thanks to the recent
discussion here, I was able to explain how the tests done to milk from a
"weaned" breast would indeed be salty, and that there were probably other
factors that caused her to have difficulty breastfeeding, but not salty
milk.

What I really wanted to shout was "Why didn't your friend get help before
she weaned?"  I hear similar excuses all the time.   We have a thriving LLL
group, several good LCs, and several bf-friendly and knowledgeable docs
around here.

My somewhat ranting, maybe-rhetorical question:  If indeed this
middle-class, probably college-educated, white mother from the suburbs (i.e.
from a population that usually has good access to health care) wanted to
nurse her child, why did she not get some help?  Is she really just making
excuses for not breastfeeding because she didn't want to, but feels pressure
from her peers?  Should we hope that is the case, because it means that peer
pressure is starting to work?  How can we help those "at-risk" mothers, when
we aren't even reaching the "easy" ones?

Thanks for letting me rant...
Happy New Year to all,
Edie Eckman, LLLL

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