Susan, One thing I have noticed is that women with epidurals tend to have more IV fluids in labor, tend to third space more because of this, and have swollen areola. The nipples appear flat or even inverted for several days after delivery. Then, they are fine. I discovered this when I had the luxury of actually working with a mom for five days in a row. She was not an early discharge due to complications of delivery and recovery. Baby was unable to latch for the first three days. The areola were hard and swollen. Then the areola softened up beautifully and baby nursed beautifully. So, the key question to ask mom is: "have your nipples always been inverted or flat". Of course, you will often see swollen feet, legs, and hands which is another tip off that the flat or inverted nipples are due to the third spacing. Donna Zitzelberger RN, BSN, IBCLC *********************************************** 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