Yes, we don’t really know if a breastfeeding class makes a difference.  We
would like to think that is does! 
 
My class is similar to the one Nikki has outlined.  We need to connect to
the mother's right brain.  Setting the class agenda by asking open ended
questions as suggested by Nikki is based on good adult teaching principles.
It’s a good way to debunk many breastfeeding myths.  

The most common reasons that women stop breastfeeding are "too little milk"
and sore nipples.  These issues usually come up when asking the questions
and are probably the ones to focus on.

Jean Ridler  RN  RM  IBCLC
Cape Town, South Africa
 
> I don't know of any follow-up research that identifies which strategies
are
> most effective in breastfeeding classes. There's a master's thesis that
> needs doing!
> 
> I like simple. In one hour, 3 or 4 messages for her to take home. Remember
> that 97% of her brain cells are thinking "How will I know I am labor?" You
> have access to 3 or 4 of her brain cells for learning anything else.
> 
> Show a s2s baby self-attachment video. That gets lots of discussion going
> on; turn the lights down low and leave them low after the video is over,
so
> folks feel safer to talk about things.
> 
> Make sure every mother has a list of phone numbers and websites to contact
> after she comes home with her baby. Suggest she go to a nursing mothers
> group and see lots of mothers nursing babies of all ages; she will learn
> more from that watching than from the class. Peter Hartmann calls this
> "learning by osmosis".
> 
> For getting a class engaged, ask the group, "What have you heard about
> breastfeeding that you didn't like?" Then write down all their responses
> verbatim on the board. You will have created a class agenda. Talking about
> the benefits of breastfeeding is useless, because everybody already knows
> 'breast is best', and it is a slogan on the cans of our competitors'
> products.
> 
> Ask who she knows in her family or network that breastfed and liked it.
> Encourage keeping this person close as a resource.
> 
> See if the mothers need doulas, as having a spontaneous, undisturbed,
> unmedicated labor and delivery is the best start to breastfeeding.
> 
> These are ideas based on experience; while I have certainly had fun and
> felt that I did a good job after a breastfeeding class, I really don't
know
> if anything I said was useful.
> 

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