Vis a vis the on-going discussion about guilt vs information, these are
remarks you'll never hear your health care provider say:

I'm a smoker myself; we smokers have to stick together.

I never learned to swim and I'm still here.

Immunizations hurt; besides, what are the odds the kid will get tetanus?

In my day we just held our babies on our laps in the car.

If your baby likes sleeping on his tummy you go right ahead and put him face
down.

The issue is not about trying to make people feel guilty who have legitimate
reasons why breastfeeding was impossible.  There are people who fall into
that category, and for them, we should all be working hard to create milk
banks.  Until that time I am all in favor of the best that technology can
come up with in terms of formula.  But the substitutes for human milk are
not equivalent with human milk, and to maintain that they are is untruthful
in the same way that the above statements are.  They may seem to be sparing
feelings, but asking people to make decisions based on misinformation is not
ethical.  Parents deserve facts; what they then chose to do with that
information is both their right and their responsibility.  Our job is to
tell the truth, be compassionate (not judgemental) and to try to do our work
without coming across as holier than thou.


Barbara Wilson-Clay BSEd, IBCLC
Austin Lactation Associates
http://www.lactnews.com

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