Try to steer the meeting AWAY from the whole notion of guilt.  You are
probably correct that some "scape-goating" is going on-- both by the
[uninfomred] mothers, and by some of the rest of the staff, who would love
to just stick some formula into those baby mouths to keep the [uninformed]
mums happy, and knock the babies out for a while].

So use my favorite trick of reminding the Powers That Be of the hospital's
mission, plastered no doubt all over their  website home page ... and the
maternity/pediatric dept missions, plastered no doubt in the dust-gathering
policy & prcedure manual that only gets pulled out during JCAHO visits ...
that *evidence-based care* promoting *optimal health outcomes* is the work
that the facility is supposed to be doing.  Don't debate "whether" the
babies should get formula in non-medically-indicated cases.  Instead,
debate: how can we help these mothers to understand that the healthiest and
most restful way to care for the baby at night is to have baby within arm's
reach?

Bring a few documentary nuggets and wave them around (I love the AHRQ
Executive Summary and Maternal and Child Health Outcomes for BF and Just One
Bottle from NABA) -- but just walk in assuming that the IBCLCs are advising
the mothers correctly (which they are).

All that being said: every  one of us -- Haloed IBCLCs included -- should
step back and *think* about how we are sending our correct and
evidence-based message.  We are dealing with post-partum mothers in Limbic
Brain Mode.  Everything they hear is through a filter of hormones, fatique
and primal instincts.  Believe me -- I know of plenty of IBCLCs who could
use some coaching in bedside technique, even though their actual message is
without fault.

Liz Brooks JD IBCLC
Wyndmoor, PA, USA

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