Diane, this post is absolutely GRAND!! You said just what I would say, and
said it much better. Thank you very much.
Pat Gima
At 10:31 AM 4/2/00 -0400, you wrote:
>You know, most of the reason "diagnosing" is even an issue has to do with
>knowledge boundaries. There is the medical niche or circle or boundary,
>within which the doctor is expected to have the best information. And
>there's the lactation niche, within which it's assumed the IBCLC has the
>best information. In a perfect world, the doctor's knowledge would extend
>right up to our fence. *He* would be spotting the thrush, since that's a
>medical issue, and acting appropriately. *He* would know how to handle
>jaundice, hypoglycemia, drug questions appropriately for the breastfeeding
>dyad. But as a general rule he doesn't.
>
>And so the mother and baby fall into an information hole unless someone
>expands the boundaries of some other niche. Medicine has been
>unconscionably slow to embrace breastfeeding research as it pertains to
>their field. *We've* done it purely because *they* haven't.
>
>I don't want to know any more about medicine than I have to. *I'm* not the
>one who should have Hale on my shelf. I should have info on over and
>undersupply, latch, nursing strikes, and so on. But *someone* has to have
>the book on his/her shelf, and if the doctors don't then I will. I'm not
>usurping their territory; they're failing to fill it themselves. As soon
>as they do fill it - and fill it as well as I can - I'm more than happy to
>give their turf back. I never wanted it in the first place.
>
>Diane Wiessinger, MS, IBCLC Ithaca, NY
>
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