I've only been reading these posts cursorily, but it occurs to me that there
are two situations of very different principal nature involved here, and
only one of them is really a question of 'consent'.  The other is a matter
of choice, not the same as consent at all.  Liz Brooks, if you read this and
have time to respond, I'd appreciate it very much.

The consent case is the situation when a health care worker (doctor, nurse,
midwife, aide, whatever) wants a baby to be fed something other than
breastmilk and the mother opposes such an action.  Presumably mother is
responsible for giving consent on behalf of the child who can not express
its own wishes.  The institution should document the indication for giving
the baby whatever it is, document that the mother is informed about the
indication and about the risks of giving it, and the risks of not giving it,
and then document the mother's choice, be it consent or not - and then they
need to respect it.

The other case is when a mother wishes the child to be fed something other
than breastmilk in the absence of any medical indication for so doing, in
which case the document would not be 'consent'.  It would be a disclaimer,
releasing the institution and individual employees from liability for any
injury to the child as a result of the unfounded supplementation.  The same
need for documentation is present - that the mother has been informed of the
risks of giving the baby whatever it is, and the lack of indication, and
chooses to do so despite advice to the contrary.

Rachel Myr
Kristiansand, Norway, getting ready to hear a radio debate between the head
of the BF resource center in Oslo and the Minister for Equality, Children
and Families, because after coming back from his politically correct equally
time paternity leave he wants the health services to stop 'pressuring' women
to exclusively breastfeed for 6 months because in a country like this with
good sanitation and clean water it shouldn't make much difference what women
choose - *wince wince wince*

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