Hello to all on LLLOL and Lactnet--

I thought this situation would be of interest to both lists; hope I'm not
breaking any protocol by cross-posting:

Last month, a woman came to an LLL meeting and identified herself as a
teacher of a parenting class at her church.  The "teacher" said she came
because she "was ignorant about breastfeeding and wanted to learn more so she
could help her moms."  Fine.

Turns out she's the local Ezzo teacher--teaches at her church and at the
local Crisis Pregnancy Center.  Since attending the meeting she has
publicly misrepresented the case of a woman who had attended last month's
meeting, using it to claim that "The only case of failure-to-thrive I've
seen is in a totally breastfed baby."  She has also been telling her
students that LLL advises all women to put babies crying for any reason
to the breast (she gets this not from _The Womanly Art_ or the reprint
_Why Babies Cry_, but from some obscure British book written by a couple
supposedly on LLLI's medical advisor board--said book is unknown to me
and is not sold by LLL).  More perniciously, she is telling women not to
go to LLL for any help because they will be bombarded with and forced to
accept LLL philosophy.  I don't know where this came from, as the meeting
she attended didn't really discuss LLL philosophy and she personally was
treated with acceptance--no one blinked when she whipped out a juice
bottle to feed her baby at the meeting, nor was she criticized when she
told the mother of a low-weight-gain baby (the "failure-to-thrive" case)
she might try feeding the baby *less* often so baby will nurse more
vigorously at each feed, once it realizes it won't get a chance to eat
for another 3 hours.

I relate this saga to let those of you who teach breastfeeding classes
(LLL or not) that you may be "cased out" by the opposition.  It seems
pretty clear that she attended to "gather dirt" and to lend more credence
to her criticisms of LLL since she can now honestly claim she attended a
meeting.  Luckily for us, the local CPC board has been evaluating the
Ezzo breastfeeding curriculum on medical grounds--it may be dropped or
altered--and perhaps this woman's bad-mouthing will be kept within the walls
of her church.

Feeling betrayed and angry,

Penny Piercy, LLLL, MOM (Patrick 4/6/93 and baby 9/96)
     from Bloomington, IN
     <[log in to unmask]>