I really appreciated Katherine Dettwyler's clarification on the implications of stunting vs. being genetically short on the size of the pelvic outlet. I think this is a very important and useful distinction! I never really considered my son's size as having anything to do with my C- section, nor was I worried about height beforehand because women in my family generally had easy short labors and so I just assumed we had great pelvises. I was just astounded at the time of his delivery that two such genetically short parents could produce such a large baby. He's drifting a little more towards average now. I don't read much on the topic of C-sections since child birth is not something I know much about.I have to say I find that there is an impossible bias in studies conducted in countries with as high a C-section rate as the United States. I read one study that showed a higher C-section rate among women who gained more than 35 pounds during pregnancy. While the authors controlled for a variety of factors that could influence this outcome, they did not control for one obvious problem. When the vast majority of C-sections are not necessary, how can you rule out that the obstetrician, the parents, or both were influenced by the belief that a higher weight gain would lead to a greater risk of obstructed labor? It seems to me that these underlying beliefs could lead to many decisions along the way that could increase the possibility of C-section without weight gain really being the cause. Those of you who know more about this, am I wrong in my puzzlement over this? More on the topic, I'm still pondering the implications of Kathy Rasmussen's study on weight gain in pregnancy and risk of lactation failure. The brief press reports I've read don't give enough detail to really do anything other than speculate. I can't wait for the full publication. Did anyone actually attend her talk at FASEB and hear more of the details of the study? Susan Burger, PhD, MHS *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html