On the issue of hindmilk/foremilk and some recent discussion in Lactnet, I 
think the baby is being thrown out with the bathwater!
The concept of milk flowing in a different fat concentration as the feed 
proceeds from each breast was first aired (if I am correct) by Chloe Fisher 
who ran a breastfeeding clinic at the Radcliffe in Oxford for many years.
Like most of us  experienced older counsellors, she was hearing time and 
time again that mothers were told to give short periods of time, equally, on 
each breast.  She then heard time and time again the stories of women who 
said: "I have so much milk, I am bursting with milk, but when I went to the 
clinic my baby had not gained `enough` weight and I was told that my milk 
wasn`t good enough."
We all know that there is no such thing as human milk not being good enough, 
along with all the other nonsense - too sour, too sweet, too weak, too 
strong, too cold (if you walk barefoot on a cold floor!!)
So Chloe had samples of milk analysed and lo and behold this revealed that 
the fat content in the flow of milk is not consistent.  The first milk 
(foremilk) that flows is greatly diluted and this in fact is the reason that 
babies do not need supplements of water even in hot weather.  Then as the 
breast empties, the baby gets a greater concentration of fat.
Modern interpretors of this theory correctly want to make it clear that the 
breast does not contain "barriers" that open to release the stages of milk 
flow so mothers should be flexible -   if a baby is getting very tired 
sucking on the last drops of milk but is not entirely satisfied when taken 
off the breast he may have more enthusiasm for the faster-flowing milk from 
the second breast.  That does not mean that the baby has been deprived of 
those last drops of hind-milk.
However the basis of the theory is still pertinent and if there are 
breastfeeding authorities or counsellors teaching that there is no such 
thing as foremilk or hindmilk, they should really read up the background and 
history of this - or better still refer to Chloe`s work.
Wendy Blumfield
Israel Childbirth Education Centre
NCT Tutor ANT/BFC

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