Dear lactnuts, I need your help!

        My sixteen year old daughter came home from school yesterday all fired up
because of an incident that happened in her high school psychology class. Chana's
teacher had been talking about infant development, including feeding practices. As
the mother of three bottle-fed children, she paid tribute to the *possible*
nutritional superiority of human milk while completely dismissing any psychological
or intellectual benefits, including bonding. She also gave out a lot of
misinformation about how bf works, who can or cannot bf, and made a point of saying
that bf advocates are, generally speaking, overbearing. The class was shown a video
of the Barbara Walters interview where she talked to the mother of a bf baby who had
died from a stroke, which was identified (by BW) as the result of breastfeeding.

        I was so proud when Chana told me that she had spoken up in class to
challenge the teacher's views! She pointed out that the video interview only gave
somebody's opinion, asked why the mother hadn't seen a lactation consultant if she
was concerned about how the breastfeeding was going, or taken her child to the
doctor sooner. She also explained how bf was a learned behaviour, and how her mother
- me! - taught women what they needed to know. Then, she volunteered me to come in
and talk to the class (about 20 girls and 6 boys, 15-18yrs old)! WOW!

        To my surprise, the teacher agreed to let me talk to the class. In fact, I
got a call this morning from the mother of another student in the class, also a
lactation consultant, who is interested in joining me. Apparently, the teacher wants
us to talk to all her psychology classes!

        Kathy and I are so excited about this opportunity, and we want to make sure
that every moment counts. So... wise ones... what do you suggest we include in out
presentation? We are not sure yet how much time we will have to speak. The class is
70 mins long, but I doubt we will be allowed that much time. Please e-mail your
suggestions to me privately. as well as responding to the list, as I am waaaay
behind in my reading right now because of the Jewish holy days.

Many thanks!


Norma Ritter IBCLC, APL LLL NY-W
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"If not now, when? If not us, who?" R. Hillel