Diane: Think about how the great apes carry their babies. When the baby is very young mom (or another "caregiver" in the social unit) carries the baby clasped baby's front to her chest. I've seen older great ape babies (in the zoo only) riding on mom's back spreadeagled or partially spreadeagled in the prone position grasping mom's hair in the fists. In either position, baby is not on it's back. So, I think great apes (who are most similar to humans)position themselves and their young in ways similar to the lower orders of mammals. I take this behavior to mean that prone positions are most natural for all mammals, as well as non-mammals. Think turtle on it's back. Pam Hirsch, RN,BSN,CLC Clinical Lead, Lactation Services Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital Barrington, IL USA *********************************************** 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