Ester, your situation is very different from mine.  You're in Israel and
I'm in Arkansas, USA.  You're in a hospital and I'm in a maternity clinic.
 You have lots of women wanting you to help with breastfeeding and I have
some that are interested prenatally and many that aren't. That said, I do
want to comment that sometimes it is easy to assume someone doesn't want to
breastfeed from her comments if you don't ask enough questions.

For example, a few months ago a 20 year old single pregnant woman was in
clinic with her mother (who she lives with). When I asked about
breastfeeding she gave me one of the general "I just really don't want to"
answers.  Her mother then interrupted with a horror story about trying to
breastfeed this young woman and her twin.  She told how extremely sore she
got and how the hospital "squeezed my breasts in an iron machine" when she
was engorged.  I cringed at her description and assumed her daughter 's
chances of breastfeeding were next to nothing.

Last week I called to see if she'd had the baby yet and how they were doing
(I'm a social worker, too, so I follow-up with some women whether or not
they are breastfeeding).  We discussed the birth and the baby, etc.  Then
she volunteered that she was breastfeeding.  I might not have asked.  I
ended up making a home visit because she said she was very sore.  It turned
out that although she lives with her loud and negative mother, she has a
mind of her own and decided to do what was best for the baby.  Also her
twin sister has breastfed five children, which they didn't tell me at that
first visit!

So I realized that sometimes I don't ask enough questions and stop too soon
when I get a negative response about breastfeeding.

-Lucy Towbin, MSW, IBCLC

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