Hi Liz--
I remember speaking with you a few years ago on a child custody suit. You
were very helpful to both me and the mother. Belated thanks.

Re: LC/Leader: You made the comment in a previous post: " I believe that it
is not hard to keep from crossing the line - common sense is the guts of it.
However, I have seen some Leaders who feel resentful of LCs, maybe because
they are often seen as the experts, and Leaders as only support."

I agree with you. It's a lot of common sense about where professional and
volunteer activities start and end. And since starting to work as an LC,
I've seen just how incredibly important the support that LLL (and other
nursing mother's groups)  provide is. I used to think that if only every
woman had access to the right information right away (as in, an LC in every
hospital), we could have a 100% breastfeeding rate. Now I see that the right
information, and even the right professional support is not enough to keep
some women nursing when they have problems or encounter criticism. The
women in the LLL Group can do so much because they are credible as the "in
the trenches" mothers. It seems to me that so few women who attend LLL
during pregnancy have insurmountable problems with breastfeeding, but so
many women who don't, encounter lots of problems. Being immersed in the
breastfeeding milieu while pregnant puts across such a powerful message: "I
can do it."

LCs and LLL Leaders provide such a wonderful mix: the LC can help the mother
who has a difficult problem (which often involves lots of one-to-one
hands-on work) but the mother then receives much ongoing information and
support from LLL that she may need to keep going. We complement each other
well, under ideal circumstances. Leaders need to quit being defensive about
not knowing as much as LCs and recognize that while they may not know as
much technical stuff, they certainly know a lot about the normal course of
breastfeeding and are skilled at offering the emotional support women so
desperately need. Many health professionals, some LCs included, neglect this
part of their work, yet I see it as just as important (maybe more) as the
ability to get things fixed. In my setting, I do as much "hand-holding" as I
do of the more technical kind of LC work, and my LLL training has been
indispensable for this.
Leslie Ayre-Jaschke, BEd, IBCLC
Peace River Breastfeeding Clinic
Peace River Alberta, Canada