Women's experiences using a nipple shield.

An informal, retrospective telephone survey of 202 breastfeeding women was conducted over an 8-month period of time, assessing patients' perceptions regarding use of a silicone nipple shield. Women used the shield most frequently because of flat nipples (62%). Other reasons for shield use included the infant's disorganized suck (43%), sore nipples (23%), engorgement (15%), prematurity (12%), short frenulum (1%), and other reasons (1%).