Thank you, Janice for alerting us to the NIEHS site with its atrocious
symbol of nurses.  This is my response to them:



  _____

From: Linda Anderegg [mailto:[log in to unmask]]
Sent: Friday, September 03, 2004 3:12 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Cc: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Nurses care for us, from the beginning



Dear Sirs,

As a Registered Nurse and an International Board Certified Lactation
Consultant, I was very disturbed by the kids' coloring page depicting a
nurse with a cap bottle feeding a baby.  While I'm sure this was intended to
be a positive image, it is the exact opposite.  Nurses have not worn caps
for about 25 years now.  They are a symbol of the subservience of a
predominantly female profession and certainly not the image that nursing
advocates would use to promote the profession.  A nurse does not care for a
baby by separating it from its mother and feeding it an artificial
breastmilk substitute with an artificial nipple.  A nurse gives supportive
care by following the 10 steps to successful breastfeeding.  Some of these
steps are putting baby to the breast within an hour of delivery, keeping
mothers and babies together 24 hours a day, avoiding unnecessary
supplemental feedings unless medically necessary, avoiding artificial
nipples, and showing mothers the skills necessary to initiate and maintain
lactation.  None of these steps are depicted by your coloring page.  I find
this so surprising because NIEHS is a division of the Department of Health
and Human Services which has just launched a National Breastfeeding
Awareness Campaign.  The US has one of the lowest breastfeeding rates in the
world and one of the highest infant mortality rates.  There is also a
critical shortage of nurses and nursing educators in this country and this
image of nurses does nothing to inspire young people to want to become
nurses.  Please find a more appropriate image of nurses or remove it from
your website.  A positive depiction of breastfeeding would also be
appropriate in avoiding environmental contamination and illness.



Sincerely,

Linda S. Anderegg, BSN, RNC, IBCLC, RLC


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