Re:Dr. Nils Bergman in Cherry Hill, NJ 4/25 & 26

[Guest guest]

If you've never heard Dr. Nils Bergmann speak -- GO! He's very inspiring, with lots of charts and studies to cite. He had an audience of cynical, hard-boiled lactation consultants quite entranced when I saw him in Virginia. And if you can hog-tie and bring along neonatologists and nurses, do so.He really plays up the importance of the *act* of breastfeeding. He overviews the dramatic brain-growth and differentiation of the early years, and talks about the breastfeeding baby's heart rate, respiration, brain-waves, hormonal levels all being in beautiful rhythmic balance -- so important since "firing equals wiring" -- what's being stimulated sets patterns for a lifetime. He has some very pungent things to say about some "baby-training" programs.In our era, when pumps are the norm, mothers can feel very unimportant -- as long as they provide the milk, that's just the same as breastfeeding. So Dr. Bergmann is very eloquent on

the importance of human contact and responsiveness. This is so valuable to bring up when someone is battling with milk production issues (those break my heart, because they happen to some wonderful mothers) so they can realize that for at least half of the total equation they're providing it all.Margaret Wills

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