In a message dated 11/13/2005 11:55:47 PM Eastern Standard Time,  
[log in to unmask] writes:

Despite  saying that they know it is better for 
baby, they don't want to b/f and  are looking for professional sanction to 
wean. "The dr. said it was okay  to switch to formula", or "the nurse told 
me I had to give the bottles".  



Dear Friends:
    Leslie makes some excellent points.
    However, I don't feel that it would be harsh or  militant to have 
answered the mother's implied question. When she told me that  "if the doctor had 
said I was making a bad decision, I would have stuck with  it", I instantly 
remembered a study about medical advice and smoking  tobacco.
    This study, and I believe the conclusions have been  replicated, found 
that a doctor telling a client to quit smoking was the most  powerful factor in 
that person quitting.
    So when she opened the door to rebuttal by saying  that she would have 
continued to breastfeed ( and she did say that her baby  liked it and was doing 
well), I missed an opportunity to respectfully disagree  with her decision.
    She was still free to choose what she wants to do;  I didn't have to 
collude with an incorrect notion.
    I feel that using better counseling skills would  have maybe kept that 
door open a bit. I could have asked her to tell me more how  she knew to make 
that decision. We could have discussed all the overwhelming  factors in her 
life. She still has to feed this baby.  And I wouldn't have  let her walk away 
from the hospital believing that a doctor and a  nurse/lactation consultant said 
that "it didn't make a difference"......
    warmly,
 
Nikki Lee RN, MS, Mother of 2, IBCLC, CCE
Maternal-Child Adjunct  Faculty Union Institute and University
Film Reviews Editor, Journal of Human  Lactation
www.breastfeedingalwaysbest.com

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