I had an interesting client from another country today. The couple were
recent immigrants to the US. Both spoke English well, but stopped to discuss
points of our conversation in their native tongue. The husband did most of
the talking. This was a 2 weewk postpartum visit. He told me they were
bottlefeeding because his wife had a lump about 4 days after delivery and he
didn't want his baby to get cancer, so they switched to the bottle. She was
a little sad but had resigned to bottle feeding. I explained that there was
no reearch to support that idea and that his wife probably had a normal
plugged duct. It did resolve on its own.  Then he told me the baby had spit
up in the waiting room (after 5 ounces of formula) because the fan had made
his stomache cold. When I brought up family planning, he said they didn't
want any more children , but sterilization makes you lose your mind, go
crazy, get forgetful- like Alzheimers- this had happened to his former
girlfriend. Then he said you shouldn't use condoms because the sperm would
swim back upstream and make him to crave male fluids and male sexual
contact. (I swear- I did not laugh!) I offered some reading materials about
family planning and some studies showing effectiveness, and risks associated
with use, but he was uninterested.  Throughout the remainder of the visit, I
listened to horror story after horror story associated with our
recommendations. They asked a lot of questions and seemed interested in the
information I had, but unwilling to consider it for themselves.  They also
asked me about a French contraceptive which is a patch that you put under
your arm after you have intercourse which is supposed to minimize the amount
of hormone exposure to the woman. Is anyone familiar with this method?  They
said it is very expensive but can be ordered through the mail.

His last comment was the most interesting. As they got ready to leave he
asked me why he should believe  American research funded by American dollars
done by American trained researchers with American bias over the
experiencial knowledge of his close friends who he has known for many years
and trusts a lot? I didn't know how to respond. Any comments?
Cathy Liles