> he gave a very interesting talk on this subject, considering that his > knowledge of breastfeeding was almost completely non-existent (his statement) > before he began doing some research. his conclusions included: epidurals are > humane because no one should ever suffer pain, particularly the pain of > childbirth, which was rated in various studies as being worse than just about > any pain humans can suffer (my generalization) apparently including being > doused in boiling oil and being drawn and quartered. Did this man ever gave birth? Don't suppose so. I did 5 times (small sample size, but bigger than his), had pretty long, but unmedicated labours and big babies, had my share of cuts and ruptures and pain, but when I'm in the dentist's waitingroom I often wish I could have a baby instead. (not meant personally, David). And I do know that between 8 and 10 cms I start yelling to people to go home, that the party is over and that I'm most certainly not going to be in it anymore.. But then, when the baby was in my arms, crawling around and looking for the breast, prolactine and oxitocine started to do their job as painkillers and real ''pacifiers'', making me shout again: I want to do this one more time! It's not what people tend to say: ''once the baby is there, you forget the pain'', no you don't forget the pain, but the pain has turned out to be worth it. Birthing pains *in a well-prepared and active labouring woman* is empowering and seems to make her more aware of the situation, more focussed on what is going on, on the baby who is coming. And in that state of high awareness, that lasts over the first pp hour or longer and that is shared by the baby, breastfeeding will be off to a good start. > the speaker did talk quite a bit about how unrelieved pain probably causes > PTSD (post traumatic stress disorder) which undoubtedly causes breastfeeding > difficulty and failure, and about how women who are exhausted and upset by > the pain and effort of a long, hideously painful labor, are less able to > initiate breastfeeding and be successful. If he is referring to unnatural pain, which is induced by unnatural birthing practices, where the woman is turned into a patient with a bodypart to be removed and unable to be up and around, where she is being convinced of the fact that the pain must be unbearable, where all eyes are fixed to the machines in stead of to her, I think he might be right. But that is like hitting one on the head and then offering an aspirin to relieve the pain. Better not hit him in the first place... Gonneke van Veldhuizen, IBCLC, living in Maaseik, Belgium http://www.users.skynet.be/eurolac [log in to unmask] *********************************************** The LACTNET mailing list is powered by L-Soft's renowned LISTSERV(R) list management software together with L-Soft's LSMTP(TM) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html