What are we saying to a mother about her breasts when we go to great
lengths not to touch them?  Imagine showing someone how to take her own
pulse:  "Turn your left wrist so that your hand is palm side up.  Good!
Now take the first three fingers of your right hand... no, not including
your thumb.  Put them on your wrist parallel to the long bone in your
forearm.  No, just use your fingertips.  Your fingers should sort of curl
over so that the last digit is vertical and the fingertips touch your
wrist.  Your thumb can kind of brace itself on the inner edge or underside
of your wrist..."

Wouldn't she begin to wonder why she was so untouchable?  When we act this
way with breasts, skilled woman to novice woman, are we perhaps reinforcing
a strange cultural aversion?

Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC  Ithaca, NY