Sam, pitting the biological norm against the economic gain of an industry does not lend itself to "opinion" -- but then you knew that!!
I have to say the term "pro-breastfeeding" speaks volumes since it is part of the rhetoric of a different mindset. The range of people who advocate for breastfeeding as the "norm" do not call themselves "pro-breastfeeding." They simply get on with the business of helping mothers breastfeed and guiding communities to support nursing families, start to finish.
Certainly placing a photo of a baby being artificially fed on the cover of educational material endorses artificial feeding. It does not even represent the purported "balanced view." I would think a baby, who doesn't happen to be feeding at the moment, would be a better illustration if that were the goal. Of course it's hard to imagine a more appropriate image to grace a Maternal/Child syllabus than a breastfeeding mother and child. After all, a breastfeeding baby is more naturally pictured in his or her natural habitat -- mother's body. The bottle itself alters the paradigm.
My understanding of the various health care disciplines is that not one differs from the view that breastfeeding is normal, "optimum." and must be supported. Different professional organizations word this support differently but all that I've explored, including nursing associations, refer to artificial feeding as a secondary choice that must be understood in order to support women who cannot or will not breastfeed.
No doubt nurses on this list can better address the position papers and evidence-based guidelines of nursing associations. Is there anything that can be done to correct the skewed slant of this course? Is this something that governing boards of nursing schools would want addressed? I'm sure it is quite tricky for a current student to confront her instructor on such issues -- but it looks like Sam has already stepped up to that plate. Would it be appropriate to draw a particular position paper of a professional organization to the instructor's attention? Or to the attention of a higher power?
Not a nurse, but curious,
Susan Johnson MFA, IBCLC
Salt Lake City, Utah USA
______________________________
Date: Tue, 16 Sep 2008 16:58:18 -0500
From: [log in to unmask]
Subject: It's not about opinion.
I am a student RN, a LLL Leader, and also an IBCLC.
I
have Maternal/Child this quarter. I have been in this area for a number
of years, in fact long enough to have had my instructor as a pre-IBCLC
who had to attend a series of LLL Meetings to get her IBCLC! (She is no
longer certified as an IBCLC, so it's been quite a few years ago.)
My
first issue was when they handed out the syllabus, and on the cover is
a picture of a newborn with a large bottle in its face. When I told the
instructor I was disappointed by this, she told me, "Everyone has their
own opinion!"
Yesterday, the instructor did a poll of the class.
How many of us were mothers? How many had cesareans? How many had
vaginal births? How many of us breastfed? She went on to tell us that
she used to be certified as a LC, and she is still very much
pro-breastfeeding. She then went on to tell us that we all have our
opinions, and although she was pro-breastfeeding, she had to give us
"balanced information" about feeding babies.
All I can say is,
it is not about opinion. It makes no difference what her opinion, or my
opinion, or anyone else's opinion is, for that matter. The attitude of
the nurse, however, makes a tremendous difference.
We have 37
female student nurses in our class. If each of us goes out into the
clinical, and then real, world with our own opinions of how babies are
fed, 25 nurses will not have breastfed and will think the two are
equal. 11 nurses will have breastfed their babies for less than 6
weeks, and depending upon their experience, will either think it's
important or not, but recommend it end by 6 weeks based on their
experience. 1 will have breastfed her children for over 4 years each,
but is considered to be biased.
The facts are, the AAP
recommends breastfeeding at least 1 year, the WHO recommends
breastfeeding for at least 2 years. The Healthy People 2010 is aiming
for 75% breastfeeding at birth, 50% at 6 months and 25% at 1 year.
If
nearly 40 nurses graduate in June with the attitude that "it's my
opinion" about breastfeeding, how do the newborns stand a chance?
In my opinion, if we promote the abnormal, the abnormal becomes the normal, and the normal becomes abnormal.
Best wishes from someone who is practicing sitting on her hands!
Sam Doak
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