Breastfeeding Problems and Cracked Nipples

Breastfeeding is supposed to be the most natural thing in the world. And yet here you sit, with raw, cracked nipples, and every latch becomes an ordeal. The pain is real — sharp, burning, sometimes so intense that tears come. And at the same time, a small being lies in your arms — one who depends on you, who needs you, who chose you.

From a medical perspective, cracked nipples arise from incorrect latching, sensitive skin, mechanical strain. All of that is true. But the question BodySignal asks goes one level deeper: Why does your body injure itself precisely where it wants to nourish? What is happening inside you that makes the act of giving so painful — not because you give too little, but because you forget yourself in the giving?