You know, I must say I was gung ho on discouraging the scissors hold until a couple of years ago, someone asked me why it was so common to see our new moms doing it. As in - it must be some sort of reflex it is so common. So I started really paying attention and not saying anything to the mom until AFTER she latched (unless it was really bad) and sure enough the vast majority of moms will use the scissors hold. I found this to be true on myself with my second baby. It was more comfortable to latch my newborn on and I found that it distorted my nipple to a perfect fit. Most of the moms who use the scissors hold let go as soon as baby is latched which for a properly positioned baby with good tone is fine (this doesn't apply to very large breasted mommies). With the C hold, I see two things happen almost every time. 1. mom will have thumb way back but index finger almost at base of nipple - which has the effect of pointing nipple down and blocking babies access. 2. moms actually aren't using a C hold, it is more of a "U" which, if mom is squeezing too hard with thumb and index finger, turns the nipple into a square peg which they then try to fit into a round hole. I suggest trying my experiment (on your self right now) to see what I mean if you haven't already seen it. Next, watch moms like I did. I had laid down the law with the nursing staff but this was one of those epiphanies where I had to eat my words. "Okay maybe the scissors hold could be okay but let's teach the C hold if mom looks like she needs help". The scissors hold done for no other reason than totally subconscious is actually a much better hold than a C hold. If mom is doing the scissors hold because of a reason like baby can't breath, it is usually worse than the C hold. If I have to intervene and teach them something, I teach the C hold. But these days I hardly intervene - heck I don't even use the bulb syringe at birth (shocking to my coworkers! hahahahaha). Debbie Codding, RNC Naval Hospital Guam