I came across an interesting study in which a prenatal [or antenatal, in this case] class on latch had a major impact on breastfeeding outcomes. In this study, 70 women were divided equally into the education and control groups. Postpartum, 100% of the control mothers and 48% of the education mothers had some nipple damage, 69% of the control mothers and 6% of the education mothers had nipple cracks, 14% of the control mothers and 80% of the education mothers had at least one pain-free day during the postpartum period. What a difference! Duffy, E. et al. Positive effects of an antenatal group teaching session on postnatal nipple pain, nipple trauma and breast feeding rates. Midwifery 1997; 13(4):189-96. This might be a useful study to share for those of us who need to justify breastfeeding classes to the powers that be. It also refutes the notion (if anyone still thinks so) that nipple trauma is "normal." Obviously this was far different from Jan's dd's class. Quality counts! Nancy Mohrbacher, IBCLC Lactation Education Specialist, Hollister, Inc. Chicago suburbs, Illinois, USA where it is a perfect summer day *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [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(R) mailer for lightning fast mail delivery. For more information, go to: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html