Dear all:

If you go back to my original post, you will see that I did not coin the term "nipple rape".  My 
posting was about "perceived assault".  I also make it clear that I did not I do not feel comfortable 
sharing the details of the experiences of the two women that experienced what I consider to be an 
extreme physical assault on Lactnet.  These were not normal experiences.  They were not handled 
by normal health care practitioners who were trying to do their job, and were too enthusiastically 
trying to help in ways that were painful.  Unfortunately, health care practitioners, as all other 
professions, include those who are abusers (and often were abused themselves).  This is how 
these two particular women experienced their first help with breastfeeding.  Neither of these 
women used derogatory terms about health care practitioners in general or lactation consultants.  
It was the specific incident with a specific person that was traumatic to them.  In one case, the 
physical evidence was extremely clear.  In the other case, the areolar bruising was not as visible.  
They were not asked permission for their breasts to be touched.  One of them asked for the 
experience to stop and she was ignored.   They also suffered psychologically.  Because of the 
extreme nature of these cases, I did feel that the term "nipple rape", coined by another, seemed to 
be an appropriate description of what happened to these particular women.   I apologize if some 
of you felt this was cavalier, because it certainly was not intended to be cavalier.

So, now that all our feathers are ruffled and I think I have used up my three posts for today, I want 
to post the post I had wanted to post yesterday about cherries from ashes. This was going to be 
dedicated to all of you who are currently suffering from or are recovering from natural disasters 
(hurricanes, tsunamis, earthquakes, etc) or manmade disasters (wars, terrorists, endless power 
outages, etc).  I will add to this list, personally traumatic incidences of violence as well since many 
of us are upset (myself included because of my two clients).  

I had one of those unforseen moments of beauty that come from the ashes and enter our lives to 
remind us that beauty can blossom again.  My first client had a baby that downed 4 ounces from 
the breast in five minutes and so I was left with a rare moment of free time before seeing another 
client --- near ground zero.  When I used to work there, all I remember was a cement walkway 
and a few cafes in the Battery Park area.  It has now become a family friendly place.  In the 
extreme muggy heat, I discovered beautiful sculpted lawns and was able to take a short nap under 
a cherry tree.  New York City is often gray and gritty with dirt, so colors are always muted.  But on 
this hot sunny day being cooled by a breeze from the water, I looked up to a bright blue sky, 
spring green leaves, and ripe cherries - in colors so vivid that it felt like I could not be in New 
York.  Nearby a dad was playing with his daughter, a crawler who was delightedly touching and 
pulling up grass for the first time in her life.  In this area that had been covered in the ash of the 
Towers, beauty grows.  

Hugs to all, particularly those who are angry with me right now.

Susan Burger

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