On Tuesday I got a call from the alternative school for pregnant teens. The Stork Nest coordinator who has someone come and talk to the girls about a prenatal topic wanted me to come and talk on Wednesday. Short notice. I said okay. A while later, I had a 15 year old bring her 6 day old in for a weight check. The little guy was doing great, was 5 ounces over birth weight already. I got the idea to ask her to come with me the next day to the class. She said yes! Wednesday I went to the class. It was only 5 girls, in various stages of pregnancy, and 3 of them were already planning to breastfeed. The other two were adamantly against it, pronouncing it gross and vile and they were very outspoken. I told them of course they could make this decision, but I wanted to tell them a little about breastfeeding. So I did, and the 15 year old and her baby answered questions. The fifteen year old told them she was doing it for her baby's health. She wanted the best for her baby. She told them she was planning to nurse for a year. (This school is for moms, too-it has a nursery and they will come and get the mom out of class if she needs to nurse the baby!) Or ifshe is feeling full, she can be excused to go and feed the baby. At the end of the session, the most outspoken girl said kind of quietly, well, I might do it but just for a few weeks. The other outspoken mom who is due in two months just kind of said, well, I guess I better come to your class, when is it? It was gratifying to see that these young women could do an about face on this issue, and will at least be thinking about it. The teacher said she was shocked, she never knew any of these things about breastfeeding, and her own formula fed children had constant ear infections up until the age of six. Just wanted to share!!!!!! Ann Calandro,RNC,IBCLC Certified lactnut *********************************************** 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