My take on a lot of the reasons that women have breastfeeding problems is 
twofold - one, we just don't see breastfeeding enough. We don't see it as 
children, when we are able to absorb positioning and latch through our 
pores. Note the children who breastfeed their dolls and always position them 
correctly! The second is that we have this crazy idea that "natural" equates 
with "need to be able to do it all alone".  Not at all the same! I've just 
written an essay (which I'll post to my website as soon as I can deal with a 
little technical issue) comparing breastfeeding to riding a bike. Imagine 
you'd never seen a bicycle before, and decided to just order one and learn 
to ride it - alone, from a book. Ridiculous, right? And yet, that is what 
women are trying to do, because it is "natural". Remind women that they are 
alone in unprecedented ways when they go home from a birth (or stay home, 
after a home birth). Instead of relying on their history of watching normal 
breastfeeding and their support network of women from the community, there 
they sit, trying to figure out from a book which way to lean to get the 
darned bicycle to turn, and quite often, crashing.
My question is, how can we get women to accept that breastfeeding often 
requires help in the beginning, without making it seem too hard and onorous? 
I like the bike riding analogy a lot (I'm milking it for all it's worth - ha 
ha) - if a woman knows how to ride a bicycle, she probably thinks of it as 
almost effortless (at least on flat ground!) - but would she ever tell 
anyone to try and learn how on their own, without anyone to hold the seat? I 
doubt it!
(in the US, "just like riding a bike" is a phrase used to express that 
something, once learned, will be easy - a skill never forgotten)
So, we educate, one mom at a time, that needing help is normal, and getting 
some help is not just a nice option, it's part of the learning process! Now, 
if there were more people for them to call...

Somewhat frustratedly today,
Kirsten Berggren, PhD, CLC
www.workandpump.com 

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