Hear, Hear, Rachel!  I love your summary of how we treat moms and babies
before and after birth compared to the past, and how they now have "much
poorer ability to make use of their togetherness".  It makes me think of
couples who spend so much time, effort and money planning and executing a
wedding that they are too exhausted to enjoy the honeymoon (which BTW USED
to be allotted a whole lunar cycle).  And they begin their married life deep
in debt, adding undue stress on the developing relationship.

Ruth Piatak, BA, MS
La Leche League Leader
WIC Breastfeeding Peer Counselor
Tulsa, Oklahoma
214-886-1218 (cell)
918-585-9114 (home)
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Rachel wrote:

Date:    Fri, 8 Jul 2011 09:18:43 -0400
From:    Rachel Myr <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: weight loss in newborn babies in first week; IBCLCs seeing all
babies

Enjoying this thread!  Been a while since we had a discussion like this,
with an illuminating discussion.  Judith, you argue your points well.  I am
listening, and not yet convinced that IBCLC consults with all babies would
be my first choice.  But I hear you!

Even here we are seeing more medicalization of birth and there is still no
clear standpoint from Baby-Friendly on the impact of birth practices on
breastfeeding, only on practice from birth onward.  Plenty of people who
work with Baby-Friendly are more than savvy enough, it's the stated
acknowledgment of how this makes our job more difficult I'm longing for.

Before, we didn't interfere much with birth but we separated mothers and
babies for days afterwards, giving them very limited time together.  Now, we
know they should be together but we do all manner of disturbing things to
them before the birth so they have much poorer ability to make use of their
togetherness.   I lament the abdication of midwives as the guarantors of
normal birth, in exchange for a collaborative role in medicalizing it.  :-(

Rachel Myr
Kristiansand, Norway

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