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 *********************************************** Archives: http://community.lsoft.com/archives/LACTNET.html To reach list owners: [log in to unmask] Mail all list management commands to: [log in to unmask] COMMANDS: 1. To temporarily stop your subscription write in the body of an email: set lactnet nomail 2. To start it again: set lactnet mail 3. To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet 4. To get a comprehensive list of rules and directions: get lactnet welcome