I want to echo Kate Hallberg here: 'I worry when people do allow their limitations to be *so* limiting as to prevent them from trying', and expand her statement to include those who are helping mothers breastfeed - when we allow a perceived limitation or even just an increased risk of a limitation to prevent us from trusting a woman's ability to breastfeed before she has even started, we are no better than anyone else who says 'breast is best BUT...' A recent encounter with a mother with PCOS, pregnant by IVF, brought it home once again. She had several hurdles to clear in addition to her PCOS - forceps delivery after failed vacuum extraction the most prominent of these - and when she returned for planned follow up for difficulties with BF, mainly positioning and latch (oroboobular disproportion being the key words here), her baby had gained 370 g (12 oz!!!) in one week, and the pillow on which the baby was lying while she BF her in my office, needed wringing out afterwards from the milk that leaked out of the other breast while baby was suckling. This is a more common scenario where I practice, than low supply, even in mothers with PCOS. If I were to be anxious on behalf of every woman with a medical condition I would need drugs myself. Far better to assume the best and be prepared to deal swiftly with any real problems that do arise - and at all costs don't alarm the mother. In this case she had enough problems with self-confidence after needing help to conceive; I would be the last person to hint to her that there was a chance she would not produce enough milk. Plus, I would have looked d***ed silly if I'd done so too, in light of how well it did go. BTW, the one thing I did which she said helped her in dealing with the challenges of her baby's first days, was to point out that the baby didn't have anything to compare her with, so everything she did would set the standard for How Things Are. Good for women to remember when they don't look exactly like the models in the book illustrations, or don't bathe or change or feed babies as quickly and 'efficiently' as staff do. Rachel Myr (I'm a midwife, everyone knows we LOVE pain!) Kristiansand, Norway *********************************************** 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