I found that one of the main problems of unsupportive medical staff is not
lack of knowledge, but somekind of emotional problem with bf. Something
like: "I didn't bf my baby, so you are not going to tell me that this is
better, or that I was wrong, or that I should have tried harder, or that I
should have thaught less about my own sleep and rest". I get these results
(phrased differently of course) very often when trying to say something
about bf. Of course sometimes education helps, but often, the more the
advantages of bf are talked about, the more resistance there is. I try to
say things very carefully, and try to explain that maybe the problem with
them was wrong advice or lack of support, but this doesn't always help (it
sometimes does). It's a lot about non-verbal communicarion, and hard to
explain, but I'm sure many of you know what I'm talking about.

Something else I wanted to say about attachement parenting, and maybe also
related to what I just wrote. A few days ago I talked to one of my
patients, a mom of a 5 days old baby (3rd child), and naturaly  I asked
about bf. (She called because the baby apnea monitor she bought went of).
No, she wasn't bf, and doesn't want to - it's too bothersome. She bf her
first child 3 mnths, and that was enough... Now she can feed her baby (with
bottle) for 10 minutes, put him down for 4 hours, and resume her previous
life as fast as possible. And this is a good mother, she stays at home  for
two yrs with every child, she is very worried about their health (see apnea
monitor), she comes to see me for every minor illness. There is no way I
can tell her that she should be closer attached to her baby (with all it
takes). I told her about advantages of bf (including SIDS prevention, which
is why she got the apnea monitor), less ear infections (which her 2nd child
suffered a lot), but her answer was - OK, but if my children have a nervous
mother, then what's the point in all this. Of course I didn't press the
point any further.
If this mother were a nurse and approached about bf again and again - she
would be very resistant. It would put her (and others like her) in a big
conflict, and I think that's what happens to many nurses, women doctors,
etc. They somehow have to prove that bf is difficult, not always possible,
and so on. This is sad, but I have no idea how to change this - maybe any
of you have thaughts on this.

Mira Leibovich, MD
Family Medicine Specialist