From a colleague in Finnmark, northern Norway, I have an anecdotal report:
Parents are admiring their new baby together, father cuddling baby.  Mother
warns him not to offer his nipple.  Midwife is curious and asks about this
unusual cautionary remark.  Previous child had as newborn (perhaps on own
initiative) latched spontaneously to father's nipple, pulled back in
complete disgust, and refused all offers of any breast for about two days
afterwards.  Parents attributed this aversion to the father's typically male
hair distribution and amount.

And from a late Danish colleague, this not exactly evidence-based, but very
pithy, comment, in a talk on trends in attitudes to childbearing: "If we
take fathers' participation so far that the father is to simulate BF, count
me out.  How do you think a baby feels, having struggled to come out into
the world, on being offered a wizened, fur-covered button instead of a
maternal breast?"

Sorry if some of my posts today are a bit behind, I was away from home
yesterday and got behind on reading.  Spent three hours holding forth for a
group of midwives, on the role of the midwife in supporting breastfeeding,
and it was great fun.  I got suddenly inspired, in trying make the point
that no appliances are substitutes for competent help:
"Imagine if labor were stalled in second stage.  Would we just go get the
vacuum extractor, plug it in, hand mother the suction cup and say, 'Here,
try this.  I have to go help the woman in the next room now' ?  Appliances
are for situations where even more expert help is needed."
They got the point for sure.
If anyone else has occasion to use this analogy PLEASE DO SO!
Rachel Myr
Kristiansand, Norway

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