Dear Folks:
   This is in reply to Brenda Phipps concern about touching people as an
IBCLC. For the WIC supervisor to reconsider letting an IBCLC do consults out
of concern for this issue seems like quite an overreaction. As Chloe Fisher
and others have encouraged, one very rarely needs to touch to assist with a
breastfeeding problem. I don't put my finger in a baby's mouth any more , as
the shape of the mother's nipple the instant it leaves the baby's mouth tells
me what is going on in there. If there is any need for suck-training, the
mother can be coached, as she uses her own finger.
        Different story when I am doing cranio-sacral therapy. In that case I am
using my finger in the baby's mouth for a very specific purpose, to do very
specific techniques.
        When in doubt, refer to the ILCA standards of practice! What do they say? I
can't find my copy right this second.....probably filed somewhere that I can't
remember. Warmly, Nikki Lee