As a frequent conference speaker who's been troubled by this issue all
morning (since reading the first post) I need to climb the soapbox.....

<< How can such a policy be compatible with promoting
 breastfeeding? >>

That all depends......

.....on how we define "breastfeeding".  If all it is a process of
transferring breastmilk from it's manufacturer to its intended recipient,
then this wouldn't be a problem.  After all, we have many gadgets & devices
to facilitate this, whether the mother is with the baby or not.

.......on whether we take seriously issues such as were recently brought up
regarding the totality of the experience, such as the global experience of
our sexuality, womanhood and mothering.  On whether women *need* oxytocin
releases (as I suspect they do) to enhance their mothering.

.....on how importantly we view the non-calories issues such as immunity
transfers and the highly complex mechanisms that are dependent on mother and
baby's togetherness.

....on whether we want to ignore the vital component of attachment and its
relationship to breastfeeding, which has now been verified repeatedly through
over a half a century of study and is becoming a "hard science" as we can now
actually view the infant brain as it develops and is impacted by mother's
presence.

I'm thoroughly convinced that it is this notion of Western culture  (not
welcoming babies/children to many venues and condoning care-giving by
non-family who have no investment in the future), that not only did away with
breastfeeding in the first place but has now re-defined breastfeeding in a
way so as to demote it as nothing more than a way to get calories into a kid.
 It is precisely this mindset that allowed the Ezzos and their ilk to find
favor in the U.S.

Many of us were drawn to this field because our own breastfeeding
experiences--good or bad--gave rise to passion inside of us.  While that may
be a foundation upon which to build some clinical skill, it obviously isn't
enough.  Denying these newly passionate women the education they desire to be
*good* will hurt our profession drastically.  To suggest that her only other
option is to sit in meetings while picturing her precious baby grieving her
absence is cruel and selfish of us.  We are adults and can choose our
response to baby noises.......

In the end, what have we accomplished if we have supported the healthy growth
and development of this child's body and yet neglected the development of his
soul?

With apologies to Pat who asked that we stuff this issue back into the box
from which it was spilling,......

Nancy

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