Heather says,

<< I would worry - I *do* worry - about any baby, pre-term or full-term,
 discharged from hospital and bf with a nipple shield. There are problems
 down the line.....
  >>

I  am a lay bf counselor, and get so frustrated with this in my community.
There is one hospital in which it seems every bf mother is discharged with
nipple shields.  I know that there are clinical uses for them, and for some
mothers who are at the end of their rope, they can be life-savers.  But all bf
women?

I have a little joke that if I get a bf-related call between five p.m. Friday
and Monday a.m., it's a mother who has been discharged from this particular
hospital, whose baby is not latching on, and she has been discharged with
nipple shields, and the lactation consultant is not working weekends.
Nonetheless, I wish this person could see the hard work that is done down the
line to wean the baby from them!

Some mothers have even told me that the lactation consultant is the one who
gave her the nipple shields, but I am not sure if this is an IBCLC.  That
brings up other issues that have been raised in this forum that, as Oprah
would say, is a whole other talk show.

Just my two cents.

Anne in Birmingham, Alabama, USA