Thanks to all of you who contributed ideas for the talk I gave today
to 2nd year students - much appreciated.

It went okay but I think I missed the mark a bit.  They seemed quite
well informed already about composition and one mentioned that she
was sure that from what they had learnt about breastmilk, they would
breastfeed themselves one day.  They seemed to appreciate hearing
that it is important to enable moms to make an informed decision and
that this includes sharing the implications for mom and baby of not
breastfeeding.  I could have focussed more on body image stuff and
feeding in public - this seemed to concern them more. They were
intrigued by the "flavours of breastmilk" but I don't think they
believed me!  Kangaroo Care also went down quite well.

It was a reality check for me.  I've obviously been spending too much
time in breastfeeding culture company.  It seems that not one of the
18 girls had observed a baby being breastfed!

One question surprised me:  "What is the latest time, after the baby
is born, that a mother could still decide to breastfeed?"  (I think
the phrase "cut-off time" was used).

Oh well, this talk was a first for me - hopefully, I'll improve with
practice!
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Lynn Moony
Johannesburg, South Africa
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