Another case of the baby getting thrown out with the bath-water!
The original hypothesis of the issue of milk becoming fatter and richer as 
it flows was formulated by Chloe Fisher who ran a daily breastfeeding clinic 
in Oxford.  Working not only with new mothers but also with mothers who 
could drop into her clinic at any time, she observed what a lot of us who 
were working at that also experienced.
That the advice to give both breasts at every feed if not exactly the "ten 
minutes each side" doctrine was leading to a common problem:  "I have loads 
of milk, I`m spurting all over the place, but my baby is not gaining weight 
and my doctor says it must be because my milk is not good enough".
This was followed by advice to top up with formula and even cornflour!
With this nonsense being spouted at every mother whose baby did not keep up 
to the weight graphs, Chloe sought an explanation for low weight gain in 
spite of plentiful milk supply.
When milk was examined in the hospital laboratory it was found that there 
was not an even consistency throughout the feed and indeed the milk that 
flowed copiously throughout the first few minutes was more watery - and that 
is why babies do not need supplementary water/juice/tea etc - and that as 
the baby continued sucking the milk became more fatty providing more 
calories.
I have often sat with mothers who worry that as the feed progresses, the 
baby tires and often gets frustrated at having to work harder to get to that 
fattier milk.
Jack Newman`s compression technique is invaluable here and one can see 
immediately that as the mother presses down on the milk glands, the baby 
gets a mouthful of milk and resumes sucking with enthusiasm.
However we have to explain to mothers that there is not any "division" in 
the breast that separates the milk and that they need to adjust the feeding 
patterns to what suits baby and themselves.
There are no hard and fast rules and what suits one mother and baby doesn`t 
suit another. Also when one talks about "emptying the breast" there is not 
really any such thing as a totally empty breast because (unlike bottles) 
there is a miraculous refilling process which proves the point that the more 
the baby/babies take, the more the mother produces, a point that I emphasize 
when preparing mothers to breastfeed twins.
If only breastfeeding was presented as less mechanical, perhaps mothers 
could just sit back and relax and enjoy feeding their babies.
Wendy Blumfield
Israel Childbirth Education Centre
NCT Trained Prenatal Tutor Teacher/Breastfeeding Counsellor 

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