Mothers that choose to attend breastfeeding classes may be more motivated to
breastfeed?  More ready and able to absorb the information shared?  The
feedback I got from maternity staff was that my class attendees did well on
the whole, but I feel that's too vague and subjective.  I would really love
to be able to assess what works and what doesn't.

Jean Ridler  RN  RM  IBCLC
Cape Town, South Africa

> I'd like to be able to do some kind of assessment, if only to make a
connection
> between those who took a prenatal breastfeeding class, breastfeeding
> initiation/duration rates, incidence of difficulties, etc.  In talking
with mothers
> after their baby arrives, most of them wish their prenatal care included a
series
> of breastfeeding messages.  I think that would be much  more effective
than a
> group class.  Kind of along the lines of individually teaching bottle
feeding.
> 
> The problem I'm having with breastfeeding classes is that they're just so
big, it's
> hard to customize them.  Please no flames; i teach for a large
organization and
> do not control how many couples are enrolled.  Tonight's class had 21
enrolled
> (not including support people) and I think there were probably 30+ people
in the
> room.
> 
> So I have a presentation, then I ask folks what their concerns are, what
they've
> heard; I try to ferret out some positives, too.  Then I spend more time on
their
> concerns.  It's hard to do, because as the benevolent dictator, I know
there's
> some general information that mothers should probably know.  Sometimes you
> don't know enough to even ask a good question (at least I don't!).  I make
sure I
> cover holding the baby, what makes a good latch, how to know baby is
getting
> enough, stages of milk production, making milk, emphasize the normal
biology
> of it all (obviously not in this order); then most people want to know
about
> pumping.
> 
> Mary Wagner-Davis, MS, IBCLC
> Roseville, CA
> 
> 
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