Midwifery matters very close to my heart! When a women is in labour and the babies head reaches the perineal floor it invokes a reflex called Fergusons reflex which is a "rush" of oxytocin. Pushing becomes involuntary. The mother knows exactly what to do and how to do it. I suppose one could call it instinctive. The problems come in when doctors and midwives think they know best (with few exceptions I will say). A women's body is unique and perfectly designed to produce babies. It has taken many years for health professional to even begin to realize that most women don't need to be saved - their bodies know what to do. I'm sure there are parallels to breastfeeding in this little story. Almost 20years ago now when I studied midwifery I was privileged to be part of a system where it was a nursing council regulation that midwives had to promote breasfeeding ( I am proud of that). All our babies were put to the breast at birth and all mothers roomed in. Formula was discouraged and only given at mothers request/for medical reasons. But you know what, we still made mistakes. Women were told to limit feeds for the first 3 days ( there was a schedule) to prevent cracked nipples! I have never seen so many engorged breasts! I reckon the mothers who did not get engorgement were the ones following their instinct! Come to think of it when I fed my own daughter shortly after I graduated I didn't get engorged or suffer from cracked nipples either. The only difference was I responded to my babies needs - call that instinct I suppose! Regards Mandy *********************************************** 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