Hi all. http://WWW.theaustralian.news.Com.au/story/0,20867,20653737-1702,00.HTML Here is a story that says breastfeeding lowers mental health risks - rather interesting. To me it points out the importance of giving correct information to all mothers who will listen and respond in what ever way they can - even if it means going against what the MD or other heath professional has said. Just today a friend told me that the local child health nurse is still insisting that babies be fed no more frequently than 4 hourly! Actually the public and HP need to be told the truth about breastfeeding, artifical baby milk and infant nutrition. Who will tell them if LC's can not??? I have always believed that people have the right to accurate correct information. ABA (Australia) and LLL would have never even started if it were not for a handful of women who said no to the social and medical culture that they found themselves. I expect that IBCLE would never have started unless those who founded the organisation saw that things were not right and need to be put right somehow. I have no trouble about being militant when information is balantly incorrect. Often one can be dipolmatic in their approach, occassionally it takes a little more. The way one goes about spreading correct information will vary from situation to situation, person to person, culture to culture but it must be done. If it involves stepping on toes sometimes, then we must. We do it not for ourselves but for the women of past generations who were denied successful breastfeeding experiences due to poor support, for the current generations who have the right to be told the truth and for the future generations of women so that they will not needlessly suffer the same hurt and grief but rather freely, and unashamedly enjoy breastfeeding their babies both in private and in public. For those who can not breastfeed for what ever genuine reason, need to be support adequately and given every right and opportunity to grieve their loss. Not being able to give correct information does not equate to being a professional. Sorry, the S of P is not in my opinion the basis for a professional body. Until it is changed, I will not be sitting any exam. Hoping to go forward, not backward Ruth Fielder Australia *********************************************** To temporarily stop your subscription: set lactnet nomail To start it again: set lactnet mail (or digest) To unsubscribe: unsubscribe lactnet All commands go to [log in to unmask] The LACTNET email list is powered by LISTSERV (R). There is only one LISTSERV. To learn more, visit: http://www.lsoft.com/LISTSERV-powered.html