Gretchen writes:

<< I would note that the more medical information parents might have can work
contrary to the fostering of a good breastfeeding relationship because they
tend to go that route instead of trusting their intuition, following baby's
cue etc.  >>

Gretchen, I don't think I exactly agree with you.  IMO, the more medical
POINT OF VIEW parents have, the more they want rules, which do indeed work
contrary to the bf relationship.  But the more INFORMATION they have about
what bf is and how it works, the better they build their own intuition and
the more confident they can be in it.

So for instance I have seen mothers for whom the information that, in bf,
milk transfer relies not only on negative pressure/gravity, as in a bottle,
but also positive pressure and the stimulation from both of those to MER,
helps them  *feel the need and ability* to evaluate whether milk is being
transfered, as opposed to "he was at the breast for 20 minutes so something
must have happened."

In the same way, I tell mothers (in language appropriate to their particular
styles) that the milk first comes in based on the body's hormonal situation
pp -- so that if "no milk came in at all" they ought to be asking Why Not? --
but also that gradually it switches over to being regulated by the
fullness/emptiness of the breast -- so that if they DID have the right amount
of milk at some point the main reasons why they may have too much or too
little now have to do with frequency of draining the breast.

This isn't brain surgery, and there's no bottom-line number in it.  But it is
technical information that requires each mother to actually look at and pay
attention to her own and her baby's own body.

Information empowers.  Rules without information disempower.

Elisheva
speaking for the cognitive skills of even dopey pp lay moms in NYC

             ***********************************************
The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned
LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM)
mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to:
http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html