You know, I think one of the most helpful things for me that came out of the hand expression videos was to have people on the other side of the ocean say, "We can't believe how small the amounts of colostrum are.  We get way more than that way faster.  We get streams," and so on.  That's the power of video!  We've talked about colostrum and hand expression for years, but just as we need to *see* our clients to know what's going on, we need to *see* how things work on the other side of whatever the closest ocean is.

I loved the moment in Heather Harris's rebirthing-in-the-tub video in which an American asked, "But the cord stump is getting wet."  "Yes?" Heather responded, confused.  And we all went home understanding, finally, that although American babies die if their cords get wet, Australian babies somehow don't.  

Now I know that the amount of expressed colostrum we think is normal, our non-American friends think is piddling.  And that's important information!  I'm going to urge hospital hand expression - and the teaching of hand expression generally - with an enthusiasm I haven't had before.

More videos!  More videos!

Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC  Ithaca, NY  USA
www.wiessinger.baka.com

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