In Lactnet digest #1999-121,Susan Keith-Hergert wrote:
 I find it interesting that, very often the moms who get repeated mastitis are the ones who feel most drained by nursing...most exhausted. I think there is definitely something to changing the way we view a situation in order to change the outcome.
It is interesting, and it calls to mind the theory on menstrual cramps which was widely held by health professionals and others in my youth, that because women with severe menstrual pain scored high in psychometric tests for dissatisfaction about being female, one could then conclude that the cramps were caused by the dissatisfaction.  Odd that no one concluded that women with severe cramps had good reason to be less enthusiastic about having a uterus than women whose periods weren't uncomfortable.
Isn't it logical that women with mastitis feel more drained and exhausted than women without mastitis?  Or that a woman with less to go on will be more susceptible to infection?  I feel we should be very cautious about saying anything which can be interpreted as blaming the woman.
Rachel Myr

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