Hi Kelli, In my "clinical" experience (homebirth midwife assistant) the women are dedicated to natural birth, and all fully expect to (and are expected to) breastfeed. Every birth/baby I've attended, except one, the baby breastfed within 1 hour of birth. The one who did not had an unexpected cleft of the soft palate. So, that's 24 babies who did, and one who did not. Interesting reading includes The Impact of Birthing Practices on Breastfeeding - Protecting the Mother and Baby Continuum, by Mary Kroeger and Linda Smith. Page 105-111 talk specifically on the effect of epidural anesthesia and breastfeeding activity. Another book I really like is Michel Odent's, The Scientification of Love. He talks about the oxytocin present at birth and how it is the love hormone. Epidurals block this drug in both the mother and baby, and they have to work harder to overcome the chemical disruption. I forget if it's his book, but there is also a study that talks about sheep who had epidurals who refused to accept their lambs. Goes along the same lines. Humans can work to overcome hurdles, it's just more difficult. Good luck in your studies! Heather "Sam" Doak also SN << My questions are these: What are being seen in clinical practice? Is there a connection in the use of epidural analgesia and the initiation of breastfeeding? Is there is certain combination of epidural analgesia that causes this more than another? Kelli Olerud, SN University of North Dakota >> *********************************************** 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