<<I had two counselling calls this week about expressing milk for
baby - both
        were distressed that they could get only small amounts - neither had
thought
        about getting a let down..........sigh. How many try to express and
think
        there's no milk - NOT that they don't have the technique right, just
that
        they have failed to produce it!
>>

That's an issue that gets me going.  It never ceases to amaze me how women
(as I put it) "test themselves".  It's almost as if they're testing their
womanhood, or their female-ness or some such thing.  Reminds me of how some
women used to feel about C-sections.

I tell my breast-pumping clients not to "test themselves", which I define as
staring down at the breast while pumping, wondering and worrying about WHEN
she'll have a let down, IF she'll have a let down, how MUCH milk she'll get,
etc.  They play these little worry-tapes in their minds while pumping - and
I'll reenact them (in spanish of course, these are usually Hispanic moms).
I'll put the pump up to my blouse, stare down at myself and role-play a
worried-about-how-much-I'll-express mom:  "Honey, how long have I been
pumping?  Look at this, it's been nearly 10 minutes and all I've gotten out
is an ounce!  I have to go back to work next week; what am I going to do?
I'm going to have to use formula!"

It makes my point - by the time I'm done, they're laughing at themselves
over the realization that it's self-defeating to worry yourself out of a
milk-ejection reflex......
Regina Roig Lane BS IBCLC for Miami-Dade County WIC

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